After Empires: European Integration, Decolonization, and the Challenge from the Global South 1957-1986

by Giuliano Garavini

After Empires describes how the end of colonial empires and the changes in international politics and economies after decolonization affected the European integration process. Until now, studies on European integration have often focussed on the search for peaceful relations among the European nations, particularly between Germany and France, or examined it as an offspring of the Cold War, moving together with the ups and downs of transatlantic relations. But these twofactors alone are not enough to explain the rise of the European Community and its more recent transformation into the European Union.Giuliano Garavini focuses instead on the emergence of the Third World as an international actor, starting from its initial economic cooperation with the creation of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 1964 up to the end of unity among the countries of the Global South after the second oil shock in 1979-80. Offering a new - less myopic - way to conceptualise European history more globally, the study is based on a variety of international archives (governmentarchives in Europe, the US, Algeria, Venezuela; international organizations such as the EC, UNCTAD, and the World Bank; political and social organizations such as the Socialist International, labour archives and the papers of oil companies) and traces the reactions and the initiatives of the countries ofthe European Community, but also of the European political parties and public opinion, to the rise and fall of the Third World on the international stage.

Genres: History

302 pages, ebook

First published December 15, 2012

About the author

Giuliano Garavini is an Italian historian, currently Senior Research Fellow in the Humanities at NYU Abu Dhabi. His main research interests include European integration, decolonization, and global struggles over natural resources. He has taught classes at various universities and institutions, including the Graduate Institute in Geneva, the European University Institute in Florence, and NYU Abu Dhabi.

Reviews

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Garavini writes that European integration is fundamentally connected to international happenings outside of Europe, the spectacular decolonisation which occurred being his inspiration for this piece. Europeans had great agency in their efforts towards integration, and indeed attempted to form a common monetary policy with the Global South, much to the fear of Nixon and Kissinger. Although efforts collapsed following the 1973 oil crisis, European cooperation with the Global South offers a tantalizing look at what could have been and helped to shape the economic world view of the Europeans. Overall this book is a reminder of the importance of Asia, Africa and South America when discussing European integration, although I would have liked to have seen more discussion on migration to Europe and its effects upon policy.

[Joey Mopsink]

I didn’t understand this 💚