ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author argues that modernity to be placed in a broader theoretical framework. Modernity is the constitutive matrix that gave to Europe a direction and meaning. A feature of modernity is the accelerated momentum of global connections and flows of ideas, a movement that is multi-directional. The theoretical proposal is to place structure at the forefront in the analysis of Europe's unity and diversity, it is structures that produce outcomes that have both diversifying and unifying consequences. The general trend in times is towards a certain scepticism of unity in favour of diversity, as reflected in the slogan 'unity in diversity', which has become the semi-official moto of the European Union (EU), having originally derived from the Council of Europe. The conventional approach was to see unity as something that transcends diversity, with the EU as constituting a level of unity above the national and regional diversity of Europe.
