This course is designed to provide students a detailed comparative historical analysis of European politics and society from the social revolutions of 1848 to the present period. Because this encompasses an enormous amount of time including dozens of countries, we will be examining this period within the context of 4 broad methodologies: the development of a modern state structure within the balance of socio-cultural movements and representative institutions; the evolutionary conception of “democracy” from collective rights of a “nation” to individual rights of a “citizenry”; the waxing and waning of pan-movements that have historically comprised either social class or cultural identity and have more recently embodied trans-continental and supra-national associations; and the gradual development of a “European” identity that has either worked alongside specific national aspirations or as a solution to competing national narratives. Studies of specific countries serve to augment these themes, rather than provide a static survey of political institutions and governmental procedures at any given time. Thus, we will primarily focus on “Europe” as a relative whole, which should serve the additional purpose of placing various events and activities particular to one country or one region within a larger political, economic, social, and cultural framework. The primary objective of this approach is to show how national consciousness is influenced by, and in turn contributes to, Continental phenomena.
(Lecturer: Michael Rossi
