The idea of Europe : from antiquity to the European Union This book addresses the question of what it means and has meant to be European covering the period from Antiquity to the end of the twentieth century. The essays discuss questions of politics law religion culture literature and even affectivity in a broad account of how a distinctive European identity has grown over the centuries and its place in the future evolution of the European Union. In the massive literature of European integration no other book takes such a long historical perspective and none other deals directly with the question of identity Introduction Anthony Pagden Europe : conceptualizing a continent Anthony Pagden Some Europes in their history J.G.A. Pocock Europe in the Middle Ages William Chester Jordan The republican mirror : the Dutch idea of Europe Hans W. Blom The Napoleonic empire and the Europe of nations Biancamaria Fontana Homo politicus and homo oeconomicus : the European citizen according to Max Weber Wilfried Nippel The European self : rethinking an attitude Michael Herzfeld European nationalism and European union Ariane Chebel dAppollonia From the ironies of identity to the identities of irony Luisa Passerini Muslims and European identity : can Europe represent Islam Talal Asad The long road to unity : the contribution of law to the process of European integration since 1945 Philip Ruttley The euro economic federalism and the question of national sovereignty Elie Cohen Identity politics and European integration : the case of Germany Thomas Risse and Daniela Engelmann Martin Nationalisms in Spain : the organization of convivencia Andrés de Blas Guerrero The Kantian idea of Europe : critical and cosmopolitan perspectives James Tully