This book addresses the recent impact of the ‘knowledge-based economy’ as an economic ‘imaginary’ and as a set of real economic developments on education, and especially higher education in Europe, including educational strategies and policies such as those of the Bologna process on a European scale.

This book is the first to systematically introduce and apply a social constructivist perspective to the study of European integration. Social constructivism is carefully located in terms of its philosophical and methodological origins. The wider debates and contribution of constructivist approaches to international relations are reviewed, and the insights that might then be afforded to European studies fully explored. Highlights include: new theoretical contributions to the debate by Ernst B. Haas, Andrew Moravcsik and Steve Smith; research on key aspects of European integration and EU governance applying a variety of constructivist approaches. The Social Construction of Europe provides new and important in

Focusing on experts in technology and science, Building Europe on Expertise delivers a new reading of European history. The authors show that modern Europe was built by experts using their unique knowledge to shape societies, set political agendas, and establish collaborations which proved decisive in integrating the continent. The Making Europe series was awarded the Freeman Award by the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) in 2014, in recognition of its significant contribution to the interaction of science and technology studies with the study of innovation.

This book analyses the transformation of European Education Policy from 1973 to 2020. In doing so, it offers a unique insight into the changes of European education from a predominantly national concern to a supranational policy framework, driven by an economic discourse concerning productivity and employability. The book shows that the idea of the “Europe of Knowledge” did not originate in the Lisbon Strategy of 2000, but rather was the result of a gradual development that started in the mid-1980s. This begun with the establishment of a specific problem definition of education as a solution for Europe’s lack of competitiveness, a definition that was incrementally constructed by the European Commission and the European business community. Highlighting significant and unexplored questions such as the role of European transnational business in education and the role of the “problem entrepreneur” in defining policy issues, this book will provide a comprehensive perspective on European Education Policy that will be of interest to all students of European Politics, Education Policy, and Public Policy.

This book is the first comparative volume on European research and higher education policies.

Stephen Martin* The fourteen essays that constitute this work provide a coherent review of the past and present of the European Community, and consider some of its possible futures. Werner Abelshauser and Richard Griffiths offer separate perspectives on the precursors of the European Community. Abelshauser argues that comparison of the fates of the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Defense Community demonstrate the dominance of political over economic considerations in the integration process. Griffiths considers the stillborn European Political Community, many of the proposed features of which, somewhat transformed, were embodied in the Treaty of Rome. Both suggest that as a practical matter a coming together of French and German interests has been a precondition for advances in European integration. Stephen Martin and Andrew Evans discuss the development of the Com munity's Structural Funds, first envisaged as tools to smooth the transition from a collection of regional economies to a continent-wide single market, now increasingly seen as devices to guide adjustment to long-term struc tural problems. Stuart Holland emphasizes the role of the Structural Funds as one element in a broad range of strategies to ensure social and economic cohesion as the Maastrict Treaty ushers the European Union into the next stage of its development.

In theory, the EU’s ‘Gender Mainstreaming’ policy should mark it out as a trail-blazer in gender equality, but gender equality activists in Europe confront a knotty problem; most civil servants and policy makers can’t understand how to ‘mainstream’ gender. Making Gender Equality Happen argues that we should take this problem seriously. In this book Cavaghan uncovers the social processes that make gender appear irrelevant to so many policy makers using a new method, gender knowledge contestation analysis. Building on this new perspective Cavaghan identifies: barriers to effective gender mainstreaming; mechanisms of resistance to gender mainstreaming; and the steps towards positive change, which gender mainstreaming can yield, even when results stop short of ‘transformation’. These findings present fresh perspectives for policy makers and activists aiming to make gender equality happen. Cavaghan’s new method also opens fresh avenues in feminist EU studies, which are particularly relevant in the wake of the financial crisis, as the EU seems to be stepping away from its commitments to gender equality.