European Society (ePub)

Does it make sense to speak of a European society, above and beyond
its component states and regions? In this major new book William
Outhwaite argues that it does. He goes beyond the study of
individual states and specific regions of Europe to examine the
changing contours of the continent as a whole, at a time when
Europe is beginning to look and act more like a single entity.

In what we have come to call Europe there developed distinctive
forms of political, economic, and more broadly social organisation
- many of course building on elements drawn from more
advanced civilisations elsewhere in the world. During the centuries
of European dominance these forms were often exported to other
world regions, where the export versions often surpassed the
original ones.

In the present century many features of European life remain
distinctive: the European welfare or social model, a substantially
secularised culture, and particular forms of democratic politics
and of the relations between politics and the economy. This book
provides a concise overview and analysis of these features which
continue to make Europe a relatively distinctive region of global
modernity.

The book will become a key text for students taking courses on
contemporary Europe, whether these are in departments of politics,
sociology, literature or European Studies. It will also be of great
interest to anyone living in, or concerned with, Europe today.