Europe as a Political Project in the CDU

In German Studies, research on the cultural roots of
postwar conservative European policies is in an early
stage as compared with aspects of research in other
postwar political movements. This interdisciplinary
work contributes to the field by outlining the
historical-intellectual development of views on
European integration culminating in the party
programs of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Using a synthesis of Lützeler's concept of Europe as
a political project, Gerhards' concept of meaning
matrices, Goldstein/Keohane's theory of the role of
ideas on foreign policy and Buchhaas' work on the
role of party programs in the CDU, the productive
tensions between international cooperation and
national identity with regard to Europe are outlined.
In the CDU, traditional organic-nationalist policies
are dialectically transformed, exhibiting marked
departures from outcomes predicted by prior
conservative thought on Europe. Further, the party's
manifestoes and election programs are shown to break
significantly with desires for cultural-political
separation from Europe seen in previous centuries, in
favor of mutual responsibility for its future.

Autorentext

Dr. Villanueva received his Ph.D. in German Studies from DukeUniversity. He is a faculty member of both the College of LiberalArts and the Honors College at UNLV, where he also serves asDirector of the SAGE Academy for gifted high school students.Research interests include German political culture, Austrianliterature and translation.

Klappentext

In German Studies, research on the cultural roots ofpostwar conservative European policies is in an earlystage as compared with aspects of research in otherpostwar political movements. This interdisciplinarywork contributes to the field by outlining thehistorical-intellectual development of views onEuropean integration culminating in the partyprograms of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).Using a synthesis of Lützeler's concept of Europe asa political project, Gerhards' concept of meaningmatrices, Goldstein/Keohane's theory of the role ofideas on foreign policy and Buchhaas' work on therole of party programs in the CDU, the productivetensions between international cooperation andnational identity with regard to Europe are outlined.In the CDU, traditional organic-nationalist policiesare dialectically transformed, exhibiting markeddepartures from outcomes predicted by priorconservative thought on Europe. Further, the party'smanifestoes and election programs are shown to breaksignificantly with desires for cultural-politicalseparation from Europe seen in previous centuries, infavor of mutual responsibility for its future.