Introduction: Perspectives on European Unity and Diversity

Abstract

The introduction begins with a comment on the different periodizations and temporalities to be noted when reflecting on European integration as a long-term process. This is followed by a discussion of different interpretive frameworks. Comparative civilizational analysis provides distinctive approaches to the European experience, but with significant differences in focus. One school of thought posits a continuity of European civilization from ancient through medieval to modern times, while another prefers the model of a civilisational sequence, culminating in modernity as a new type of civilisation, and a third one regards the Eurasian macro-region as a civilisational zone, integrated through encounters and transfers. All these viewpoints are represented in the book. An alternative perspective stresses the context of global history and relates European transformations, including the most recent ones, to that background. A case is made for combining the two approaches, thus paving the way for closer analysis of Europe’s various regions, whose characteristics and situations are briefly discussed. The introduction then concludes with summaries of the following chapters.