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Dominant approaches to the transformation of Europe ignore contemporary social theory interpretations of the nature and dynamics of social change. Here, Delanty and Rumford argue that we need a theory of society in order to understand Europeanization. This book advances the case that Europeanization should be theorized in terms of: globalization major social transformations that are not exclusively spear-headed by the EU the wider context of the transformation of modernity. This fascinating book broadens the terms of the debate on Europeanization, conventionally limited to the supersession of the nation-state by a supra-national authority and the changes within member states consequent upon EU membership. Demonstrating the relevance of social theory to contemporary issues and with a focus on European transformation rather than simplistic notions of Europe-building, this truly multidisciplinary volume will appeal to readers from a range of social science disciplines, including sociology, geography, political science and European studies.

Despite the on-set on new divisions, there is a strong case to be made for the view that ultimately Europe is more united than divided. There is still significant continuity with the post-war project of reconstruction and peace and that this common ground that constitutes the European heritage needs to be given greater recognition. One of the defining features of European self-understanding is opposition to war.

The work emphasizes that the concept of Anthropocene refers to a temporal dimension within geological time: the era when human beings brought about a great transformation in the Earth's physical structure. It is a form of historical self-understanding that represents a great transformation in the Earth system's geophysical nature, coeval with the worldwide transformation caused by capitalism and westernization. The Anthropocene is inextricably bound up with sociological questions concerning capitalism, war, power, and inequality on a global scale. The text draws attention to the fact that the notion of Anthropocene does not simply refer to climate change, but is above all an interpretative category, by means of which contemporary societies may reflect on themselves and on life itself, and reinvent their space and time.

This commentary analyses the view that the resurgence of nationalism will lead to the return of the nation-state and an accentuated de-Europeanisation. I argue against this position. While neo-nationalism has become a major force in Europe and elsewhere, I claim it does not have a capacity to restore the nation-state. I discuss what I take to be the key features of neo-nationalism, central to which is authoritarianism, and outline four arguments why this kind of nationalism ultimately lacks a real capacity to bring about major structural change. These are: (1) it is a form of nationalism without the nation; (2) it is unable to solve the basic problem of societal polarisation; (3) it avails of divisions within the left and the centre ground rather than having any strength of its own; and (4) the global movement of which it is an expression lacks a global imaginary. Neo-nationalism has brought about a significant shift in political discourse but stops short of a major systemic transformation of European integration.

Festivals and the Cultural Public Sphere provides the first major social scientific study of these festivals in the wake of their explosion in popularity over the past decade. It explores the cultural significance of contemporary arts festivals from their location within the cultural public sphere, examining them as sites for contestation and democratic debate, and also identifying them as examples of a particular aesthetic cosmopolitanism. The book approaches contemporary festivals as relatively autonomous social texts that need interpretation and contextualisation. This perspective, combined with a diversified set of theoretical approaches and research methods, and guided by a common thematic rationale, places the volume squarely within some of the most debated topics in current social sciences. Furthermore, the multifaceted nature of festivals allows for unusual but useful connections to be made across several fields of social inquiry. This timely edited collection brings together contributions from key figures across the social sciences, and proves to be valuable reading for undergraduate students, postgraduates, and professionals working within the areas of contemporary social theory, cultural theory, and visual culture. Introduction, Liana Giorgi and Monica Sassatelli 1. Urban Festivals and the Cultural Public Sphere: Cosmopolitanism between Ethics and Aesthetics, Monica Sassatelli 2. Between Tradition, Vision and Imagination: The Public Sphere of Literature Festivals, Liana Giorgi 3. Art Biennales and Cities as Platforms for Global Dialogue, Nikos Papastergiadis and Meredith Martin 4. Festivals and the Geography of Culture: African Cinema in the \"World Space\" of its Public, Jim English 5. The Cultural Public Sphere - Critical Measure of Public Culture?, Jim McGuigan 6. Festivals: Local and Global. Critical Interventions and the Cultural Public Sphere, Jean-Luis Fabiani 7. International Festivals in a Small Country: Rites of Recognition and Cosmopolitanism, Motti Regev 8. Festivalization, Cosmopolitanism and European Culture: On the Socio-cultural Significance of Mega-events, Maurice Roche 9. Festival Spaces, Green Sensibilities and Youth Culture, Joanne Cummings, Ian Woodward and Andy Bennett 10. Cannes: a French International Festival, Jérôme Segal and Christine Blumauer 11. 'Space is the Place'. The Global Localities of Sònar and Womad Music Festivals, Jasper Chalcraft and Paolo Magaudda . Conclusion, Gerard Delanty Professor Gerard Delanty is Professor of Sociology and Social & Political Thought at the University of Sussex. He is the author of twelve books and editor of seven, including Handbook of Contemporary European Social Theory (Routledge, 2006). His most recent publication is The Cosmopolitan Imagination: The Social Theory Renewal of Critical Social Theory (Cambridge University Press, 2009). Dr Liana Giorgi is Vice-Director of The Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences, and the coordinator of the EURO-FESTIVAL project on European arts festivals. She is co-author and co-editor of Democracy in the European Union: Towards the Emergence of a European Public Sphere (Routledge, 2006). Dr Monica Sassatelli is Lecturer in the Sociology Department at Goldsmiths College. She has published in the sociology of culture, Europe as well as classical and contemporary social theory. She is the author of Becoming Europeans: Cultural Identity and Cultural Policies (Palgrave 2009).

The question of a plurality of ‘Europes’ raises new questions about the nature of unity and diversity. The argument given in the article is that the problem of unity cannot be jettisoned in favour of diversity, but needs to be conceptualised in a way that includes plurality; accordingly a proposal is made for a theory of modernity that integrates both unity and diversity, which it is argued offers a more useful approach than identity or culture based ones; finally, a brief sketch is provided of this framework with respect to the twentieth century and rival projects of modernity that were a feature of the age. While many examples can be found in the long perspective of European history, the twentieth century was particularly important in shaping the present diversity of Europe and therefore merits special attention.

Resumo O trabalho destaca que o conceito de Antropoceno refere-se a uma dimensão temporal no tempo geológico: é a época em que os seres humanos provocaram uma grande transformação na estrutura física da Terra. Trata-se de uma forma de autocompreensão histórica. Representa, assim, uma grande transformação na natureza geofísica do sistema Terra que coincide com a transformação mundial provocada pelo capitalismo e pela ocidentalização. O Antropoceno está inextricavelmente relacionado a questões sociológicas que dizem respeito ao capitalismo, à guerra, ao poder e à desigualdade em escala global. O texto destaca que a noção de Antropoceno não é simplesmente uma condição objetiva da mudança planetária, ou outro termo para a mudança climática, mas é, acima de tudo, uma categoria interpretativa pela qual as sociedades contemporâneas refletem sobre si mesmas e sobre a própria vida e reinventam seu espaço e tempo. Abstract The work emphasizes that the concept of Anthropocene refers to a temporal dimension within geological time: the era when human beings brought about a great transformation in the Earth's physical structure. It is a form of historical self-understanding that represents a great transformation in the Earth system's geophysical nature, coeval with the worldwide transformation caused by capitalism and westernization. The Anthropocene is inextricably bound up with sociological questions concerning capitalism, war, power, and inequality on a global scale. The text draws attention to the fact that the notion of Anthropocene does not simply refer to climate change, but is above all an interpretative category, by means of which contemporary societies may reflect on themselves and on life itself, and reinvent their space and time.

La idea de una Europa cosmopolita se define en contraposición a, por un lado, una 'Europa nacional' y, por otro, a una 'Europa global' en la que una Europa internacionalista dirigida por la UE juega un papel fundamental en el mundo. El concepto de Europa cosmopolita constituye una denominación más precisa de la forma de europeización que está surgiendo como una realidad intermedia y emergente entre la Europa nacional y la Europa global. Así pues, se puede imaginar la identidad europea como una identidad cosmopolita basada en una lógica cultural de autotransformación en lugar de una identidad supranacional o una identidad oficial de la UE que se encuentra inmersa en una relación de tensión con las identidades nacionales. Como identidad cosmopolita, la identidad europea es una forma de autoentendimiento postnacional que se expresa a sí misma dentro del marco de las identidades nacionales e incluso más allá de ellas.The idea of a cosmopolitan Europe is defined against a 'national Europe', on the one side and on the other, 'global Europe' where an internationalist EU led Europe plays a major role in the world. A cosmopolitan Europe is a more accurate designation of the emerging form of Europeanization as a mediated and emergent reality of the national and the global. It is possible to conceive of European identity as a cosmopolitan identity based on a cultural logic of self-transformation rather than as a supranational identity or an official EU identity that is in a relation of tension with national identities. As a cosmopolitan identity, European identity is a form of post-natlonal self-understanding that expresses itself within, as much as beyond, national identities.