POL41650 The Global Political Economy of Europe

Academic Year 2020/2021

The transatlantic financial crisis, the euro crisis, the migration crisis, Brexit, and now Covid-19, have challenged the politics of European integration. It has exposed the fragility of joining diverse national economies into the EU, whilst illustrating the conflict between liberal democracy and technocratic decision making. Against all of these contemporary challenges, the purpose of this course is to analyse the political economy of European integration, paying particular attention to the countries in the euro currency.

The course is taught in three parts. The first part examines the political and economic history of the EU, and the co-evolution of national varieties of capitalism within Europe post-WW2. It will be suggested that the EU was a regional response by nation-states to the international processes of globalisation. The second part examines the political and economic rationale for the establishment of the single market and the single currency; the brave new world of European central banking; and the continued political fallout from the euro crisis. The final part of the course examines the politics of Brexit, euro scepticism, and changing dynamics of electoral conflict within the EU, and Europe's bold response to Covid-19.

A core question we will consider is whether all of these events are bringing European nation-states closer together, or further apart.