Britain And European Integration

Module description

By the end of the Second World War in 1945, British politicians faced a new reality in global politics. The age of European dominance was over. With the British Empire collapsing and Europe in ruins, British policymakers found themselves scrambling for a new position, and new identity, in a world dominated by the mutually hostile United States and Soviet Union. What was Great Britain's role to be in this new world order?

Since the 1940s British governments have demonstrated a consistently cautious attitude towards European integration. From supporting a united Europe in the 1950s but not wanting to be a part of it, to desiring to join in the 1960s but being refused, to joining Europe in the 1970s, to financial boom and bust in the 1980s, Conservative and Labour governments have advocated slow integration. Rising Euroscepticism in the 1990s and 2000s reached its peak in the 2010s when a majority of the British population voted to leave the European Union. The consequences of this were profound, with British parties and populations polarised into aggressively hostile factions blaming each other for creating a crisis, and frequently refusing to work together to resolve anything. Although Brexit has been concluded its effects are still the cause of fierce debates today, and in the 2020s the British must decide what future relationship they want with their closest neighbours.

This module take a genealogical approach to Britain's relationship with the post-war European project, from Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee to Keir Starmer. We examine the key debates and different explanations for why Britain has had an ambivalent relationship with Europe, oscillating between fierce support and fierce opposition, over seventy years. Europe is the focus of some of the hardest questions in British politics, and there are no clear answers. We may not be able to answer them, but in this module, we will ask them.

*Please note that module information is provisional and may change from year to year.

Module also suitable for Economics and International Business Students 

Assessment details

One 1000 word briefing paper (15%) and one 3000 word essay (85%)

Educational aims & objectives

The module is intended to strengthen and widen our range of module provision in the final year of the new BA in Contemporary European Politics. It will firstly, provide an in depth and extensive focus on British politics and policy towards European Integration strongly complementing and extending the existing national focus on Spanish, German and French politics and specialist European integration options. Secondly, it will enable students to develop, synthesise and extend existing knowledge on British Politics gained in the first year of the degree and European Policy making and European Integration gained in the second year. Thirdly, both the geographical location and the practitioner relationships held by KCL offers students of European Politics a unique opportunity to study in depth the politics of EU membership in the British context - holding the potential to complement lectures and seminars with invited guest speakers and organised visits to national offices. The module aims to introduce students to the issues and dynamics that surround the relationship between Britain and the European Union. In doing so, the course approaches the topic extensively exploring Britain's past, present and future relations with the EU and contextualises this discussion within wider debates about British identity, history and politics and combines this with a rich empirically focused discussion of UK - EU policy developments. Throughout, the module students will explore two overarching tensions key to the conceptualisation of this colourful and contested relationship. Firstly, the extent to which Britain was and is a distinctive awkward partner - focusing upon the potential exceptionality of Britain's relationship with 'Europe'? Secondly, the module will explore the impact of European integration on Britain itself - exploring the extent of both Europeanization and the impact of contestation for British politics, polity and policy.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module students will be able to demonstrate the intellectual, transferable and practicable skills appropriate to a Level 6 module and in particular will be able to demonstrate:

• Detailed and extensive knowledge of the historical and contemporary issues and contentions that surround the UK/EU relationship.

• The ability to synthesise this in their hypotheses about the explanations for, and the character of, British relations with the European project since 1945.

• A systematic understanding of the politics and history of EU membership for the British state and competing British political parties

• An ability to critically assess competing perspectives and explanations to put forward an independent evaluation of the key structures and actors in this area.

• A systematic understanding of a diverse range of UK/EU policy issues.

• And an ability to evaluate these areas critically in order to assess the impact of EU membership on the British state.

• The ability to investigate with minimal supervision the key political, historical and economic issues central to the UK - EU relationship.

Teaching pattern

One-hour lecture and one-hour seminar, per week

Suggested reading list

• Stephen Wall (2020) Reluctant European: Britain and the European Union from 1945 to Brexit. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Andrew Geddes (2013) Britain and the European Union. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

• Roger Liddle (2014) The Europe Dilemma: Britain and the Drama of European Integration. London: I.B. Tauris & Co.

• Danny Dorling and Sally Tomlinson (2020) Rule Britannia: Brexit and the End of Empire London: Biteback.

• Benjamin Grob-Fitzgibbon (2016) Continental Drift. Britain and Europe from the End of Empire to the Rise of Euroscepticism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Robert Tombs (2021) This Sovereign Isle: Britain in and out of Europe. London: Penguin.

• Philip Stephens (2021) Britain Alone: The Path from Suez to Brexit. London: Faber and Faber.

• Harold D. Clarke, Matthew Goodwin, Paul Whiteley (2017) Brexit. Why Britain voted to leave the European Union. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Module description disclaimer

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.

Please note that modules with a practical component will be capped due to educational requirements, which may mean that we cannot guarantee a place to all students who elect to study this module.

Please note that the module descriptions above are related to the current academic year and are subject to change.