When Marxian economist Samir Amin coined the term “eurocentrism” to identify a certain ideological proclivity in the 1970s, he could not possibly have anticipated the degree to which this identifier would influence all fields of academic study.
Amin’s criticism concerned the tendency to identify Europe as the driving force of global history, and to view other cultures purely through a European cultural lens. Decades of debate and scholarship have shown that the actions required to respond to charges of eurocentrism are complex. Identifying the most effective methods with which to combat this narrow perspective is an ever-evolving challenge. For those who study Europe and operate within European studies, the challenge may be even more acute. We must therefore ask: how do European studies scholars avoid eurocentrism?
This year, Europe in the World (EITW) offers one answer to this pressing question.
The charges in question require us to acknowledge that Europe exists in a wider world. Far from being exclusively centered, European affairs can be decidedly peripheral from some vantage points. The interconnectedness of this world demands that we present European phenomena alongside their broader impacts on the globe, and the inspiration they might take from what is happening beyond the European continent.
We believe that appropriately locating all things European — pointing out their parallels and distinctions — better enables us to conduct and discuss the sort of inherently complicated academic research we seek to make available to a broader audience. This year, we will work towards combining the founding intentions of EITW with a consideration of how Europe, with all its political, social, cultural, and economic dynamics, relates to global models.
The past year seems to have witnessed scarily precedented and surprisingly unprecedented events in equal measure. Major conflict returned to Europe, and a singularly interconnected world sustained its efforts to flatten the curves of not one but two viral diseases. Several nations have seen a change in leadership; in Italy the Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) party, led by Giorgia Meloni, was voted into power, and the UK saw a new monarch when King Charles III ascended to the throne and will almost certainly have three prime ministers over the course of 2022. The results of recent and ongoing elections in Sweden, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to name but a few, are yet to be determined. Each of these developments will impact Europe’s relationships with the rest of the world.
With the global position of Europe firmly in mind, we look forward to receiving submissions from faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and practitioners in their fields who are committed to making academic research accessible and politically relevant. We welcome contributions that discuss Europe’s place in the wider world, political economy and international economics, human rights, climate change, migration and immigration, nationalism and populism, legal studies, cultural politics, European identity, post-colonial relations, and the historical shaping of these areas.
We are excited to continue providing a platform for excellent public-facing scholarship, and for the open exchange of ideas about Europe and its place in the world.This is by no means an exhaustive list. To learn more about submitting to Europe in the World, please consult our submission guidelines
Alec Hahus, Shasta Kaul, and Will Beattie
Editors, Europe in the World
Originally published by at eitw.nd.edu on October 21, 2022.