Echoes of Imperialism: Critical Reflections on the Idea of a European Society

Abstract This article highlights the imperial echoes in the project of European integration, a project designed to bolster elite power with respect both to the geopolitics of the world outside and to the politics of the enfranchised masses within. After the Second World War these echoes resound in conjunction with US imperialism and the restricted democracy associated with Cold War liberalism. With the end of the Cold War, Europe cleaves closer to US-led hegemony; but it also sees counter-movements labelled ‘populist’. To recall these imperialist echoes and highlight the misleading nature of the dominant narratives helps us to cast a critical look at the current liberal anti-populism and the idea of constructing a European society through EU law.