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Series
Contemporary European History
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Edited by:
Corinna Unger
Corinna UngerSearch for this author in:
Matthias MiddellSearch for this author in:
eISSN:
2627-0374
ISSN:
2627-0366
At a time when the idea of ‘Europe’ and the project of European integration are being questioned by some and defended by others, what is the role of historians in writing about Europe? What kind of historical accounts do they have to offer? Should they point out the complexity of European societies and histories as reasons for the difficulties in creating a ‘European identity’, or should they emphasize the degree to which European integration has successfully taken place on different levels?
These questions are difficult to answer but useful to ask because they alert us to the possibilities and challenges historical research on Europe currently faces. European history has developed remarkably over the past two or three decades, not only within Europe but also in many other parts of the world where Europe has become an increasingly interesting object of investigation since it suggests itself to comparisons and presents an important hub in a connected world. A new generation of historians is writing histories that leave behind narrow dichotomies like East and West, North and South while at the same time problematizing such notions and their historical and historiographical legacies.
Each volume of the series will start with an introduction by the editors of the volume, followed by one or two chapters on the state of the art and the specific perspective the volume takes on its subject. The main body of the volume consists of twelve to twenty chapters in which the authors discuss the various facets of the volume’s topic. The final element is a conclusion in which the editors provide an outlook on ongoing investigations and further research based on the research questions raised in the contributions. A rather short bibliography in the volume will be complemented by a ‘living’, continuously edited bibliography on the website of the handbook series. This allows the editors to react to new developments in research and to keep the handbooks up to date with the international discussions.
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Volume 3 in this series
For a long time agriculture and rural life were dismissed by many contemporaries as irrelevant or old-fashioned. Contrasted with cities as centers of intellectual debate and political decision-making, the countryside seemed to be becoming increasingly irrelevant. Today, politicians in many European countries are starting to understand that the neglect of the countryside has created grave problems. Similarly, historians are remembering that European history in the twentieth century was strongly influenced by problems connected to the production of food, access to natural resources, land rights, and the political representation and activism of rural populations. Hence, the handbook offers an overview of historical knowledge on a variety of topics related to the land. It does so through a distinctly activity-centric and genuinely European perspective. Rather than comparing different national approaches to living with the land, the different chapters focus on particular activities – from measuring to settling the land, from producing and selling food to improving agronomic knowledge, from organizing rural life to challenging political structures in the countryside. Furthermore, the handbook overcomes the traditional division between East and West, North and South, by embracing a transregional approach that allows readers to gain an understanding of similarities and differences across national and ideological borders in twentieth-century Europe.
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Volume 2 in this series
Music has gained the increasing attention of historians. Research has branched out to explore music-related topics, including creative labor, economic histories of music production, the social and political uses of music, and musical globalization. This handbook both covers the history of music in Europe and probes its role for the making of Europe during a "long" twentieth century. It offers concise guidance to key historical trends as well as the most important research on central topics within the field.
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Volume 1 in this series
Today, the environment seems omnipresent in European policy within and beyond the European Union. The idea of a shared European environment, however, has come a long way and is still being contested.
Greening Europe focuses on the many ways people have interacted with nature and made it an issue of European concern. The authors ask how notions of Europe mattered in these activities and they expose the many entanglements of activists across the subcontinent who set out to connect and network, and to exchange knowledge, worldviews, and strategies that exceeded their national horizons. Moving beyond human agency, the handbook also highlights the eminent role nature played in both "greening" Europe and making Europe a shared environment.
