Eurovision or American dream?

Should Britain join the euro? Where is the European Union going? Must America rule the world? "Eurovision or American Dream?" assesses New Labour's prevarications over the euro and the EU's deliberations about its future against the background of transatlantic discord. Highlighting the contrasts between European social capitalism and American free market individualism, David Purdy shows how Old Europe's welfare states can be renewed in the age of the global market. This, he argues, is essential if European governments are to reconnect with their citizens and revive enthusiasm for the European project. It would also enable the EU to challenge US hegemony, not by transforming itself in to a rival superpower, but by championing an alternative model of social development and changing the rules of the global game.

David Purdy