Our time: Europe in the age of global networks and flowing identities

In what follows I will discuss the articulation of Europe. I start with a discussion on the identity of Europe, go on with a discussion of globalization, and close with an attempt to tie these two themes together. I then raise, in a new context, Karl Polanyi’s (1944) question: What kind of a time is our time? Throughout the chapter, specific emphasis is put on the EU, as this network state currently uniting fifteen and in the nearest future possibly twice as many European states as today is often what is referred to combined with the term “Europe”, even if it would be a mistake to believe that these two are identical.