The Politics and Policies of European Economic Integration, 1850–1914

This book asks anew whether there really was European integration before 1914. By focussing on quantitative (economic indicators) and qualitative data (the international regulation of patents, communication networks, social policy and plant protection), the authors re-evaluate European integration of the time and address the politics of seemingly apolitical cooperation. The authors show that European integration was multifaceted and cooperation less the result of intent, than of incentives. National polities and international regimes co-shaped each other. The result is a book that achieves two things: offer stand-alone chapters that shed light on specific developments and – these read altogether – develop a bigger picture. It will be of interest to researchers and students of economic history, as well as those interested in the history of internationalism and globalisation.

Yaman Kouli is a researcher at the Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf. He hasheld numerous other positions, including as research assistant at the Chemnitz University of Technology and an A.SK-fellow at the Berlin Social Science Centre. From 2018 to 2020, he was Feodor-Lynen fellow and received a scholarship from the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation. His fields of expertise are Poland’s economic history during the 20th century, the knowledge-based economy and European integration.

Léonard Laborie has been a research fellow at the CNRS, UMR Sirice in Paris since 2010. He received his PhD in contemporary history from Sorbonne University. His research deals with the interactions between science, technology and diplomacy in the making of Europe since the 1850s. He was chairman of the Tensions of Europe Research Network on History, Technology and Europe from 2019 to 2022.