The Politics of Crisis in Europe

Description

The Politics of Crisis in Europe explores the resilience of the European Union in the face of repeated crises perceived to threaten its very existence. While it is often observed after the fact that these crises serve as opportunities for integration, this is the first critical analysis to suggest that we cannot fully understand the nature and severity of these crises without recognising the role of societal reaction to events and the nature of social narratives about crisis, especially those advanced by the media. Through a close examination of the 2003 Iraq crisis, the 2005 constitutional crisis, and the 2010-12 Eurozone crisis, this book identifies a pattern across these episodes, demonstrating how narratives about crises provide the means to openly air underlying societal tensions that would otherwise remain under the surface, impeding further integration.

Mai'a K. Davis Cross is Associate Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University, Boston and Senior Researcher at the ARENA Centre for European Studies, Oslo. She is the author of three books, including Security Integration in Europe: How Knowledge-Based Networks are Transforming the European Union (2011), which was the 2012 winner of the Best Book Prize from the University Association of Contemporary European Studies. Dr Cross holds a Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University, New Jersey and a bachelor's degree in Government from Harvard University, Massachusetts. She is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

'Pundits may panic about the future of the EU, but Cross convincingly demonstrates that crises have so far consistently engendered further integration. Bad news for Cassandras, but unlikely to deter them from seeing any little crisis as a coup de grace for the Union.' Iver B. Neumann, London School of Economics and Political Science 'This densely argued book examines the effect on the EU of the 2003 Iraq crisis, the 2005 constitutional crisis and the 2010-12 eurozone crisis. The author's thesis is more succinct and nuanced than the summary on the back cover would indicate. Mai'a K. Davis Cross asks why the EU has not gone into reverse during a time of economic stagnation, policy failures and a ringing lack of popular endorsement. How can it be that European integration has continued to deepen against the odds?' Asle Toje, International Affairs 'The Politics of Crisis in Europe is a provocative, compelling, and important contribution to the fields of European Union Politics, European Political Economy, and to broader literatures on conceptualising crisis. It reveals a pattern in media coverage of EU politics that tends to view challenges, setbacks, and disputes in hyperbolic frames as 'threats to the EU's continued viability'. ... This is a timely argument, and one that deserves serious attention.' Neil Dooley, EuropeNow