ABSTRACT
Europe is at the centre of modern political life; at least this has long been the prevailing understanding of Europe's place in the world. Politics started in Europe. The modern system of sovereign states gradually expanded from, or was imposed by, or was wrested from, Europe throughout the world. To identify the spatiotemporal coordinates of Europe, to try to fix its historical and geographical place in the world, is also to identify specifically European practices of fixing the world in spatiotemporal coordinates. In this context, one of the most striking characteristics of the debate between intergovernmentalists and integrationists has long been the wilful simplicity of the primary categories of analysis deployed on both sides. Without a spatial community to contain spatially diverse subjects, it is difficult to make much sense of the most basic categories of modern political life; no need to reconcile citizens and sovereigns, no democratic participations or representations, no public or private realms.
