Abstract
The project of European integration has been marked by many shifts in its more than five decade history. This history can of course be viewed as having a much longer span since the foundation of the EU. The general dominant tendency both in academic discussion and in popular opinion has been to see in that project a progressive movement towards unity and alongside this an emphasis on continuity over discontinuity. The EU has certainly become embedded in its member states, which have been irreversibly transformed as a result of European integration, and the various enlargements of the EU can be seen as a continuation of a project of systemic integration that began in the post-Second World War period. The crisis that escalated in 2012, with the prospect of Greece’s exit from the EU at least as a possible development, suggests a shift of a different nature and the possibility of a rupture that calls into question a narrative of continuity and one of progressive integration based upon the institutionalization of solidarity.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2013 Gerard Delanty
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Delanty, G. (2013). Age of Austerity: Contradictions of Capitalism and Democracy. In: Formations of European Modernity. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137287922_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137287922_14
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-28791-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-28792-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social Sciences CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)