Centre d'Excellence Europe Capitole

The European project has been the subject of many, often virulent debates between specialists and the public over the last twenty years
For some, the multi-layered word ‘Europe’ permits very different definitions and tests the possibility of laying down a single European history; for others, recent changes (fall of the Berlin wall, growing competences of the European institutions, expansion of the union, globalisation) provoke questions and concerns to which researchers in human and social sciences are called upon to answer.
The ‘Amphis de l’Europe’ programme seeks to initiate a reflection on the issue of a Europe from a global perspective, without reducing it to just the European Union.
The studied objective aims especially to avoid the perceived wisdom that the founding fathers of the EEC began the European project, and thus rethink Europe in its entire complexity while showing that a European ‘script’ of Europe is possible.
The goal of the European Union is today to build a single political society, capable of extending an integration that has been based until now only on material issues.
The theme of identity is therefore important, and encompasses human and social sciences in the reflection on our European future and our common past.
Yet, legacies are not simple to handle because that past cannot be solely relied on, the part left in the shadows has to be taken into account, unless we only want to practice rote regurgitation or a negotiated forgetfulness.
With this in mind, various researchers in human and social sciences have decided to exchange viewpoints in order to expand their insight into the European project which has, until now, only focused on certain aspects of its progress.
The objective is to address the research methods of each discipline and assess the parallel studies ready to be incorporated for the benefit of all.