Introduction

In 1989, when we first proposed the theme “A New Europe?” for the 1992 Annual Conference of the British Sociological Association, the Berlin wall had just fallen, talk of “our common European home” began to seem more than merely wishful thinking, and western Europe was being encouraged eagerly to anticipate 1992, when the completion of the Single European Market would bring real substance to the promise of the European Community (EC). We wanted to bring Europe to the top of the agenda of British sociology because we believed, as we believe still, in the desirability of cross-nationally comparative sociological research, but also because we considered that some of the enthusiasm for European integration was indiscriminate and needed, as a corrective, a stiff dose of critical sociological analysis. We imagined then that we should be writing this amidst a wave of euphoria about the New Europe taking shape before our eyes, and that we should be orchestrating pinpricks of dissent against the excesses of Eurohype and internationalist fervour.