Europe: From Emancipation to Empowerment

Alexander Somek 

University of Iowa - College of Law
April 8, 2013

LEQS Paper No. 60 
Abstract:      
Marx is dead. But so is Hayek. With neoliberalism crumbling, Europeans are beginning to wonder what it is that is really wrong with the current European Union. The paper proposes the following answer: To this day, European integration has not been a process of emancipation. This shortcoming, however, is not written on the Union’s face. It requires, pursuant to best psychological traditions, a careful analysis of symptoms. One indication of the absence of emancipation is, indeed, the Union’s rhetorical embrace of empowerment.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 78

Keywords: European Integration, Economic Liberalism, Emancipation, Socialism, De-commodification, Individualism, Empowerment

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2246877