This book was published under the direction of Samantha Besson, current occupant of the International Institutional Law Chair at the Collège de France, and a professor at the University of Fribourg. With contributions by:
Samantha Besson, Patrick Boucheron, Nicolas Chapuis, Françoise Combes, Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Nicole Gnesotto, Edith Heard, Marc Henneaux, Henry Laurens, Thomas Lecuit, William Marx, Jean-Éric Paquet, Timothée Picard, Philippe Pochet, Thomas Römer, Tiphaine Samoyault, Jörg Stolz, Jean-Marie Tarascon, Anne de Tinguy, Stéphane Van Damme, Antoine Vauchez.


There are more and more calls to “reform” Europe and a heightened desire for a European “renaissance”. But before reinventing Europe, is not important to understand when, where, how and by whom it was invented?
Europe can be thought of in terms of a continent, region, civilisation, idea, set of values and rights, religion, languages, myth, legal order or culture, political institutions and regimes, various international organisations, technology and science, and much more. It is a subject of research in many fields, as reflected by this colloquium.
Samantha Besson Introduction – When Europe invents, invents itself and reinvents itself
I The Inventions of Europe
William Marx The myth and name of Europe: a meaning to be (re)invented
Tiphaine Samoyault Between languages: translation and creolisation
Timothée Picard The construction of a European musical landscape
Patrick Boucheron The political inventions of Europe
Stéphane Van Damme Science and technology in Europe: a tradition without borders
II The Europe of Inventions
Edith Heard Science in Europe
Marc Henneaux The European construction of physics: from the first Solvay Conferences to the major post-1945 infrastructures
Françoise Combes Space and Europe
Thomas L. Lecuit et Edith Heard Biology in Europe, a science beyond disciplinary borders
Jean-Marie Tarascon Energy in Europe, through the prism of batteries
Jean-Éric Paquet Research in Europe
III Europe and Others in a Shared Invention
Henry Laurens The Mediterranean and Europe from 1750 to the present day: complementary or opposites?
Souleymane Bachir Diagne Europe seen from Africa
Anne de Tinguy Europe and Russia: between confrontation and partnership
Nicolas Chapuis Europe and China, contrasting interests
IV Europe to Invent
Antoine Vauchez Locks, levers and reinventions of the Europe of public goods
Philippe Pochet Social Europe: towards a socio-ecological transition?
Nicole Gnesotto Europe and defence
Jörg Stolz et Thomas Römer Is European secularisation exceptional?