Europe and a Geopolitics of Hope

The characterization of Europe as hope or aspirational horizon has not only marked the work of cultural historians and philosophers of the European idea. The failed attempt at creating a ‘Constitution’ for Europe in 2004–2005 also appealed to just such an imaginary in order to frame the European project. The draft document of the Constitutional Convention opened its Preamble by appealing to Europe as a ‘special area of human hope’: a lofty pronouncement but one that drew upon a much longer series of political imaginaries of the European project as a distinct ‘value space’. In this chapter, I assess the continuing appeal - and perils - of such imaginaries.