Birth of the European Individual : Law, Security, Economy

This book investigates the birth of the European individual as a juridical problem. Inspired by Foucault’s story of the modern subject, this book considers the encounter between legal and other practices within a more general field of juridical power: a network of active relations, between different social spheres. Through the examination of six legal case dossiers from the European Court of Justice, the European individual, it is argued, emerged out of this field – and its practices of knowledge-power – at the intersection of regimes of law, economy and security.

This book examines the birth of the European individual as a juridical problem, focusing on legal case dossiers from the European Court of Justice as an electrifying laboratory for the study of law and society. Foucault’s story of the modern subject constitutes the book’s main theoretical inspiration, as it considers the encounter between legal and other practices within a more general field of juridical power: a network of active relations, between different social spheres.

Through the analysis of delinquent individuals – each expelled from one of the Member States – the raw material for constructing the idea of the European individual is uncovered. The European individual, it is argued, emerged out of the intersection of regimes of law, security and economy, and its practices of knowledge-power.

Birth of the European Individual: Law, Security, Economy will be of interest to those studying the individual in law, as well as anyone considering the relationships between power and the individual.