Catherine Guisan
The Meaning of Europe Winning the Peace (1950-2003) Publication date : November 1, 2003
Economic advantages and constitutional reform are the arguments often evoked to convince the European people to accept the enlargement of the European Union and the Economic and Monetary Union. But citizens and leaders seem to share similar doubts about the deeper meaning of European integration.
Yet ever since the end of World War II, winning the peace has been a clear, motivating goal. Three principles have moved the European founders to action and resulted in new political, economic and social structures: reconciliation, power as concerted action and recognition of the other. Dont these constitute a lost treasure, which, rediscovered, could breathe new life into the European project?
Drawing on exclusive interviews with over forty political leaders of the European Union and on the study of legal texts, memoirs and autobiographies, Catherine Guisan reexamines European integration in a dialogue with political thinkers Hannah Arendt, Jürgen Habermas and Charles Taylor. She presents us with a unique assessment of the meaning of Europe.
Brought up in Lausanne, Switzerland, Catherine Guisan considers herself European and American. Her mother is a Greek born in Istanbul and her father was a Swiss politician. She teaches political science at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and specializes in the history of political ideas and European integration
Yet ever since the end of World War II, winning the peace has been a clear, motivating goal. Three principles have moved the European founders to action and resulted in new political, economic and social structures: reconciliation, power as concerted action and recognition of the other. Dont these constitute a lost treasure, which, rediscovered, could breathe new life into the European project?
Drawing on exclusive interviews with over forty political leaders of the European Union and on the study of legal texts, memoirs and autobiographies, Catherine Guisan reexamines European integration in a dialogue with political thinkers Hannah Arendt, Jürgen Habermas and Charles Taylor. She presents us with a unique assessment of the meaning of Europe.
Brought up in Lausanne, Switzerland, Catherine Guisan considers herself European and American. Her mother is a Greek born in Istanbul and her father was a Swiss politician. She teaches political science at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and specializes in the history of political ideas and European integration