History and Politics of European Integration

The course aims to equip students with a basic understanding of the process of European integration at a historical and institutional level (in the sense of an intergovernmental negotiation process) and with the tools necessary to understand the expansive, multifaceted interest shown by European societies since the 1950s in forming a European "Union."
In keeping with the multitiered governance that characterises the European system, the course will reconstruct the history of European integration, focusing on the crucial moments and a plurality of actors: governments (European and non-European), civil society movements, political parties and economic stakeholders which have promoted, blocked or otherwise influenced the integration process.
This will enable students to critically assess the binary tension currently at play in the European Union between national interests and supranational tendencies.

Knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course, the student will acquire the knowledge necessary to understand, describe and interpret the political-institutional, socio-economic and cultural dynamics of contemporary Latin America at the national, regional and international levels. In particolar to comprehend the season of progressive presidencies and the beginning of a season of alternating conservative and progressive governments and the emergence of radical parties of extreme right in many national realities.

Applying knowledge and understanding: The knowledge acquired will allow the student to understand, analyse and interpret the political-institutional processes and socio-economic and cultural dynamics of the contemporary Latin American in national, regional and global contexts. Particular attention to analyse the season of progressive presidencies and the beginning of a season of alternating conservative and progressive governments and emergence of radical parties of extreme right in many national realities.