No Culture, No Europe: On the Foundations of Politics

Over the past decade, the European Union has fallen into a drawn-out political and economic crisis. In No Culture, No Europe, the contributors argue that prior analyses of this crisis have missed an important element: culture. Faith in politics, like faith in a European currency, is first and foremost a cultural issue. Culture, as a shared frame of reference that lends meaning to people’s lives, is the very foundation of any society, including a transnational European society. The essays in this volume analyze both theoretical models and concrete examples that clarify this thesis–that culture is an essential, binding element by which people assess their identities and their activities. How could culture give the European project a completely different meaning? What would happen if it did?