1st Edition
Europe and Finland Defining the Political Identity of Finland in Western Europe
First published in 1998, this volume asked the question, what is Europe?. What is Finland’s position in Europe?. The author tries to give an answer to these questions by defining first Europe in terms of its key political traditions and then locating Finland into this map of historical ideas. The ultimate purpose of this analysis of historical ideas is very pragmatic as it tries to find an answer to the core problems of European unification. Why are different European countries at differing levels of readiness as far as the project of unification is concerned?. The answer can be found again in political traditions.
Part 1. Europe. 1. Introduction: The Historical Study of Political Ideas. 2. The Three Political Cultures of Western Europe. 3. The Idea of a United Europe. 4. The European Union: Problems in the Twentieth Century Effort of European Government-Building. Part 2. Finland. 5. The Historical Construction of Finland as a Political Community. 6. The Political Identity of a Borderland: An Analysis of the External Identity of Finland. 7. Conclusions: Europe and Finland; Defining the Political Identity of Finland in Western Europe.
Biography
Teija Tiilkainen explores the areas of institutional structure of the EU, the external identity of the European Union and Finland's EU Membership through her role as research director at the Centre for European Studies. She has edited numerous international volumes within these fields.
’...in a rather unusual, even bold way...draws on the study of political ideas to explain the process of European integration and the political identity of Finland...the book helps us to capture elements of continuity and change in Finnish political culture.’ European Foreign Affairs Review ’The book is worth reading for its scope alone...the books real strength is the analysis of the post-Soviet identity crisis in Finnish politics that Tiilikainen diagnoses so accurately...a broader abstract sense.’ European Integration ’...the book as a whole will be a work of secondary importance for students both of Finland during the Cold War and of European Integration.’ The International History Review ’...admirably ambitious volume...the book raise some challenging issues and is a worthy example of post-Finlandization scholarship.’ Political Studies
