Article
Many Europes: Rethinking Multiplicity
Journal of Social Theory
(2012)
Abstract
This article advances a non-reductionist theorization of Europe as ‘multiplicity’. As an object and category of political reality, Europe is made (and re-made) within specific spatio-temporal configurations. For this reason, the first section argues that Europe should be approached as an instance of ‘historical ontology’. This counters a reductionist tendency to ‘fix’ Europe with definitive political and cultural characteristics or historical trajectories. The second and third sections of the article interrogate a few of the ontological ‘lines of flight’ taken by contemporary Europe. The article discusses Europe’s multiplicity through its fields, imaginaries and ways of being in the world. Such a preliminary sketch of European multiplicity is not meant to be exhaustive. Rather, it suggests a new ethos in the study of European politics that privileges historicism, practice, and Europe’s recursive relationship to the world/globe.
Keywords
- Europe,
- Imaginary,
- Multiplicity,
- Ontology,
- Postwesternization
Disciplines
Publication Date
2012
DOI
10.1177%2F1368431011423567
Citation Information
William Biebuyck and Chris Rumford. "Many Europes: Rethinking Multiplicity" Journal of Social Theory Vol. 15 Iss. 1 (2012) p. 3 - 20 ISSN: 1461-7137 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/william-biebuyck/2/