CCGL 9050

EUROPE WITHOUT BORDERS?

DR STEFAN AUER
JEAN MONNET CHAIR
ASSOC. PROFESSOR IN EUROPEAN STUDIES
SCHOOL OF MODERN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES
CCGL9050 Subject Guide [Jan15]

COMMONCORE

Course Guide Hope for a New Life by Warren Richardson, the World Press
Photo of the Year taken on August 28, 2015, at the height
of the refugee crisis at the Hungarian-Serbian border. See
https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2016/s
pot-news/warren-richardson
Europe without
Borders?
CCGL 9050
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, Bavarian governor Horst Seehofer, left, and Social Democratic Party
Chairman Martin Schulz pose for the media after the exploratory talks between Merkel's conservative bloc, and the
Social Democrats on forming a new German government in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018. (AP Photo)
ENLIGHTENMENT AND THE EU

BEETHOVEN / SCHILLER
‘ODE TO JOY’
1989 - ‘ODE TO FREEDOM’
CCGL9050 Subject Guide [Jan15]

COMMONCORE

Course Guide Hope for a New Life by Warren Richardson, the World Press
Photo of the Year taken on August 28, 2015, at the height
of the refugee crisis at the Hungarian-Serbian border. See
https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2016/s
pot-news/warren-richardson
Europe without
Borders?
CCGL 9050

The Fall of the Berlin Wall, November 9, 1989. See

http://historycooperative.org/accidental-freedom-fall-
berlin-wall/
The Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2017
versus
The subject is structured as follows:

INTRODUCTION
1. Introduction: Why Europe? Why Borders?
2. ‘A Euro State of Mind’ (Darnton 2002): Europe as a Cosmopolitan Project

CREATING BORDERS
3. 1789 – The Birth of Democracy, The Birth of Nations
4. The Springtime of Nations and the Long Nineteenth Century
5. The First Wold War: Fighting Over Borders

RE-DRAWING BORDERS
6. The ‘Unmixing of Nations’ I – Borders Cemented
7. The ‘Unmixing of Nations’ II – The Nazi Racial Reordering of Europe
8. The Cold War in Central Europe: Borders Resented
ABOLISHING AND RESURRECTING BORDERS
9. The Euro: Borders Transcended
10. Contested Borders at Europe’s Peripheries
11. European Migration Crisis - ‘Welcome’ (a French movie by Philippe Lioret, 2009)
12. Migration Crisis & Brexit: Borders Reimposed

CONCLUSIONS
13. The End of Europe Without Borders?

II. Learning Outcomes

On completing the course, students will be able to:

Describe and explain key political terms and concepts such as citizenship, democracy, h
cosmopolitanism and supranational governance.
Tutorial presentation and participation (15%): Students will be assessed on the basis of their
participation in the weekly tutorial discussions of the course readings as well as a brief presentation on a
relevant topic.

Reading response (10%): A short assignment of up to 300 words based on your critical reading of a core
article (week 4). You will need to identify the key issues raised and form your own opinion in response.

Film review and analysis (15%): You will be free to choose from a list of movies, both documentaries and
fiction, which will present various perspectives on the key issues covered in the subject. Your review of up
to 600 words will critically engage with a particular problem of your choice.

Debate competition (15%): A number of groups of about half a dozen students in each tutorial will debate
pro and contra the proposition, such as: ‘Borders stopping refugees from migration are unjust and ought
to be abolished’.

Research paper (45%): The end-of-term essay will be 1500 words in length due on May 14 (5pm). You will
be informed of the eligible topics and writing guidelines in the latter term half.
You can submit an essay plan to your tutor at least two weeks prior to the submission date to elicit
feedback.

Late submissions will be penalised by deducting 5% per late day from the overall mark. Exceptions apply
for urgent medical circumstances or in case of personal tragedies.

Please ensure that the essay directly answers your research question. A clear essay structure is essential
(introduction → main argument → conclusion). Be concise and to the point and avoid unsubstantiated
claims. Remember that all sources used need to be properly referenced so as to prevent plagiarism.
 What Is a State?
What Is Sovereignty?
What Is a Sovereign State?
Is Hong Kong Sovereign?
The UK?
Germany?
Greece?
The EU
 EU

• Experimental Union

• Post-modern (e.g. Robert Cooper)

• Post-national (e.g. Ulrich Beck, Jürgen Habermas)

• Post-sovereign (Neil McCormick, Joseph Weiler)

• Neil McCormick: sovereignty …
“lost without anyone else gaining it”

• Quentin Skinner: sovereignty … as a

persona ficta, that is the artificial and
eternal ‘person of the state’, which is
‘able to incur obligations that no
government and no single generation
of citizens could ever hope to
discharge’
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

Sovereignty as indivisible