Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0199659192 ISBN 13: 9780199659197

Casa editrice: Oxford University Press, 2012

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 two factors 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 (government archives 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 of the 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.

About the Author:

Giuliano Garavini obtained a degree from the College of Europe in Bruges and holds a PhD in International History from the University of Florence. He is currently working on global history of the "oil shocks" in the 1970s and is coordinating a large research project on this topic.

Review:

The book has the merit of analyzing the influence of different actors: individuals, social movements and political parties. It will be a fundamental historical framework for all of those who are interested in the external policies of the European Community (EU). * Veronique Dimier, Revue Francaise de Science Politique * After Empires: European Integration, Decolonization and the Challenge from the Global South (1957 - 1986) is a thoroughly researched, lucidly written and highly original argument about the complex links between decolonization, post World War II debates about development, and the ideas about the process of European integration. * Mary Nolan, Journal of European Integration History * The sweeping analysis merits extended citation because it exemplifies the breakneck pace, learned insight, and wide range that will make After Empires a touchstone in the histories of decolonization and globalization. * Christopher R.W. Dietrich, H-Diplo *