Year of the Euro: The Cultural, Social, and Political Import of Europe’s Common Currency

The Year of the Euro examines the wide-ranging importance of Europe’s new single currency beyond its impact on financial markets and the economy itself. On January 1, 2002, when the new currency began to circulate in the twelve participating member states of the European Union, the long move toward a supranational European framework for trade and institutions finally entered the fabric of daily life for hundreds of millions of citizens. The contributing authors to this highly readable and interdisciplinary volume offer a variety of perspectives on this extraordinary episode in currency change and European convergence. The book’s essays offer the assessments of leading scholars of European affairs-from the fields of history, political science, sociology, and law-as to whether the new common currency will reshape the continent’s cultures, societies and political systems and, if so, in what ways. The discussions and debates found in these pages will inform those, within and outside academia, who are interested in the future of Europe and in the meaning of national currencies. The volume is also suitable for classroom use in courses on the European Union, cultural and economic sociology, comparative politics, and contemporary Europe.