The European Union and the United States as two variants of Western modernity

Abstract

Abstract The first aim of the volume is describing, interpreting, and analyzing key selected features of European society and American society and major social trends in the United States and in the European Union (EU) in the past fifty years (since the 1957 Treaty of Rome), looking for convergences and divergences. The United States of America and the European Union are the two strongest economic powers in the contemporary world, roughly equivalent in terms of gross national product (GNP), market size, and scientific potential, but asymmetrical in terms of political influence and military might. The United States and the EU can be seen as successful examples both of economic development and of political and cultural modernization. But they have followed different paths to reach such a position. They can be considered as two variants of Western modernity.