Questions of identity: Exploring the character of Europe. A selection from the pages of ‘New European’

Book abstract:

Is identity such a personal issue that necessarily it is determined by the differences that set us apart from others or is there still opportunity for a collective identity and could that identity be European? Individualism is consecrated in DNA! Identity is a matter of perception and for many of the contributors to this work - a matter of political perception. Independence is the badge of pride that binds us to a history of conflict but prevents us moving forward to interdependence and a collaborative future. This work brings together a collection of powerful essays, including commentaries by Eddie George, Margaret Thatcher, Ralf Dahrendorf and Michael Ignatieff, which focus on the subject of European unity and the attempt to bridge the gap between English and European identity. Views and opinions range from culture to monetary union, from East-West rapprochement in the post-Cold War era to the position of the EU in the globalised world of the new millennium. Passionate searches for an ultimate definition of the culture of Europe are entertained perhaps failing to recognise that to define is to contain and even constrain, which offers contradiction to the very essence of culture - that it is a living, breathing, growing, changing phenomenon. The work will interest students, scholars and commentators in the fields of European Studies, EU politics and International Affairs. Christopher Joyce is a former civil servant with a long interest in European affairs and is currently a lecturer at the University of Surrey.

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