It has been argued that the emergence of a European collective identity would help overcome growing disparity caused by the increasing diversity of today’s European Union, with 28 member states and more than 500 million people. Research on European integration is facing the pressing question of what holds ‘Europe’ together in times of crisis, growing distributional conflict and instability in its neighbourhood. This book departs from the ideas of group cohesion in the EU, and reflects on the newest dynamics and practices of European identity. Whilst applying innovative qualitative, quantitative and experimental research methods and an interdisciplinary approach, this volume looks at a variety of issues such as European citizenship, mobility of European citizens, space-based identities, dual identities, student identity and value-sharing. In doing so, this volume presents new perspectives on this complex and dynamic subject and points to potential solutions both in the academic discourse and the political practice of the EU. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of European integration, European studies, international relations, citizenship studies, political sociology as well as more broadly in the social sciences.

In contrast to other studies on identity, this book takes its point of departure in the complexities that characterize and shape both individuals and societies – past and present. Its chapters challenge demarcated fields of study and conceptions of identity as gender, identity as functional disability, identity as race, and identity as, or based upon language groupings. The contributions take a social practices perspective in their exploration of the performance, living and doing of identity positions across time and space. Many of the contributions take an intersectional stance and the majority report upon empirically driven studies that examine the ways in which micro-level analyses of naturally occurring human communication contribute to our understanding of identification processes. Specifically, they study the ways in which more recent dialogical and social theoretical-analytical frameworks allow for attending to the complexity and dynamics of identity processes; the ways in which institutional settings, media settings, community of practices and affinity spaces provide affordances and obstacles for different types of identity positions; and the ways in which shifts in identity positions can be traced across time and space.

Despite its unequalled history of success, the European Union is still far from its citizens. In the aftermath of the failed referenda on the European constitutional treaty in France and the Netherlands in the early summer of 2005, the EU is facing a severe crisis of trust. Hence, the questions arise: how much pressure can the community tolerate in order to persist and what does hold it together in times of scarcity, conflict, danger, and threat? The contributions of this volume do not only provide a variety of conceptualizations of European identity in the broad field of social sciences such as sociology, political theory and international relations, but first and foremost intend to enrich the present research by offering new theoretical perspectives and recent empirical findings.

European Multiculturalism Revisited analyses the alleged crises of the main ‘models’ of multicultural societies experienced by Europe since the end of World War II, based on research conducted by local scholars in the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, France and Germany. Each chapter provides an historical account of how the model developed and was implemented in the country in question, followed by an in-depth analysis of the factors that have led to the claim that the model has failed. The questions being, Did it actually fail? And if it failed was it because of some intrinsic weaknesses or external circumstances? This volume is a groundbreaking contribution to a topic of vital contemporary importance.

When Politics Meets Religion presents a fresh exploration of the relationship between religion and politics worldwide. The volume includes topics covering Europe, such as the European far right, the contours of "European identity", and how religious cleavages affect value orientation of Europeans. It also covers country-focused issues and events, such as the influence of Orthodox Christianity in Russia, Christian nationalism in the United States, the influence of religion on Turkish foreign policy, the political role of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, Chinese attitudes towards religious deprivatization, and how liberation theology found its way from Latin America to the Holy Land. The volume is supplemented with several analyses on the intersection between law, society, and religion. It deals with religious mediation and political conflicts, how the current religious governance in France affects the Orthodox Jewish community, as well as how taxing the church’s economic activities can be a contributor to the common good, and why Muslims should treat Sharia law as only a moral code in the context of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Through rigorous research, case studies, and critical analysis, this volume explains how religion and politics mix in different settings, and why it is important for us to study this complex relationship. The volume will appeal to scholars and graduate students of political science and religious studies, as well as interested professionals working for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or governments.

Waterfronts Revisited addresses the historical evolution of the relationship between port and city and re-examines waterfront development by looking at the urban territory and historical city in their complexity and entirety. By identifying guiding values, urban patterns and typologies, and local needs and experiences, cities can break the isolation of the harbor by reconnecting it to the urban structure; its functions, spaces and forms. Using the UNESCO recommendation for the "Historic Urban Landscape" as the guiding concept and a tool for managing urban preservation and change, this collection of essays illustrates solutions to issues of globalisation, commercialization of space and commoditisation of culture in waterfront development. Through sixteen selected case studies, Editors Heleni Porfyriou and Marichela Sepe offer planners and urban designers a broad spectrum of alternative solutions to waterfront regeneration interventions and redevelopments, addressing sustainability, regional cultural diversity, and the debate between conservation and transformation.

On 5 July 1962, Algeria became an independent nation, bringing to an end 132 years of French colonial rule. Algeria Revisited provides an opportunity to critically re-examine the colonial period, the iconic war of decolonisation that brought it to an end and the enduring legacies of these years. Given the apparent centrality of violence in this history, this volume asks how we might re-imagine conflict so as to better understand its forms and functions in both the colonial and postcolonial eras. It considers the constantly shifting balance of power between different groups in Algeria and how these have been used to re-fashion colonial relationships. Turning to the postcolonial period, the book explores the challenges Algerians have faced as they have sought to forge an identity as an independent postcolonial nation and how has this process been represented. The roles played by memory and forgetting are highlighted as part of the ongoing efforts by both Algeria and France to grapple with the complex legacies of their prolonged and tumultuous relationship. This interdisciplinary volume sheds light on these and other issues, offering new insights into the history, politics, society and culture of modern Algeria and its historical relationship with France.

This book discusses selected works of literature written in Great Britain in the final decades of the twentieth century in the context of contemporary debates on English national and cultural identity. It investigates how Peter Ackroyd, Julian Barnes, and Adam Thorpe address the issue of Englishness and how they revisit its traditional formulations

In recent years psychoanalysis - especially Lacanian theory - has been gradually acknowledged as a vital resource in the ongoing re-orientation of contemporary political theory and analysis. Of particular note is that the work of Jacques Lacan is increasingly being used by major political philosophers associated with the Left. This indicates the dynamic emergence of a new theoretico-political horizon: that of the 'Lacanian Left'. However, this has yet to be properly conceived and structured as a field. The Lacanian Left is the first book to bring it into academic consciousness and to draw its implications for concrete political analysis in a systematic way. It offers: An accessible mapping of its main contours. A detailed examination of the points of convergence and divergence between the major figures active or at the periphery of this terrain, including Slavoj h the central Lacanian notion of 'enjoyment', The Lacanian Left puts forward innovative analyses of political power and authority, nationalism, European identity, consumerism and advertising culture, de-democratisation and post-democracy. It will be of value to everyone interested in exploring the potential of psychoanalysis to reinvigorate political theory, critical political analysis and democratic politics.

Was Western civilization founded by ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians? Can the ancient Egyptians usefully be called black? Did the ancient Greeks borrow religion, science, and philosophy from the Egyptians and Phoenicians? Have scholars ignored the Afroasiatic roots of Western civilization as a result of racism and anti-Semitism? In this collection of twenty essays, leading scholars in a broad range of disciplines confront the claims made by Martin Bernal in Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization. In that work, Bernal proposed a radical reinterpretation of the roots of classical civilization, contending that ancient Greek culture derived from Egypt and Phoenicia and that European scholars have been biased against the notion of Egyptian and Phoenician influence on Western civilization. The contributors to this volume argue that Bernal's claims are exaggerated and in many cases unjustified. Topics covered include race and physical anthropology; the question of an Egyptian invasion of Greece; the origins of Greek language, philosophy, and science; and racism and anti-Semitism in classical scholarship. In the conclusion to the volume, the editors propose an entirely new scholarly framework for understanding the relationship between the cultures of the ancient Near East and Greece and the origins of Western civilization. The contributors are: John Baines, professor of Egyptology, University of Oxford Kathryn A. Bard, assistant professor of archaeology, Boston University C. Loring Brace, professor of anthropology and curator of biological anthropology in the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan John E. Coleman, professor of classics, Cornell University Edith Hall, lecturer in classics, University of Reading, England Jay H. Jasanoff, Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Linguistics, Cornell University Richard Jenkyns, fellow and tutor, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and university lecturer in classics, University of Oxford Mary R. Lefkowitz, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities, Wellesley College Mario Liverani, professor of ancient near eastern history, Universita di Roma, 'La Sapienza' Sarah P. Morris, professor of classics, University of California at Los Angeles Robert E. Norton, associate professor of German, Vassar College Alan Nussbaum, associate professor of classics, Cornell University David O'Connor, professor of Egyptology and curator in charge of the Egyptian section of the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania Robert Palter, Dana Professor Emeritus of the History of Science, Trinity College, Connecticut Guy MacLean Rogers, associate professor of Greek and Latin and history, Wellesley College Frank M. Snowden, Jr., professor of classics emeritus, Howard University Lawrence A. Tritle, associate professor of history, Loyola Marymount University Emily T. Vermeule, Samuel E. Zemurray, Jr., and Doris Zemurray Stone-Radcliffe Professor Emerita, Harvard University Frank J. Yurco, Egyptologist, Field Museum of Natural History and the University of Chicago