The European dream : how Europe's vision of the future is quietly eclipsing the American dream

450 Pages·2004·1.83 MB·English

by  Jeremy Rifkin.

THE EUROPEAN DREAM
ALSO BY JEREMY RIFKIN
Common Sense II
Own Your Own Job
Who Should Play God?(with Ted Howard)
The Emerging Order
The North Will Rise Again(with Randy Barber)
Entropy (with Ted Howard)
Algeny
Declaration of a Heretic
Time Wars
Biosphere Politics
Beyond Beef
Voting Green(with Carol Grunewald)
The End of Work
The Biotech Century
The Age of Access
The Hydrogen Economy
J E R E M Y R I F K I N
T E
HE UROPEAN
D
!
REAM
How Europe’s Vision
of the Future Is
Quietly Eclipsing the
American Dream
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin
a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
New York
Copyright © Jeremy Rifkin 2004
The right of Jeremy Rifkin to be identified as Author of this Work has been
asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This edition published in 2004 by Polity Press. Originally published as ‘The
European Dream’ by Tarcher/ Penguin. Published by arrangement with Jeremy P.
Tarcher, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Polity Press
65 Bridge Street
Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK.
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of
criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the publisher.
ISBN: 0-7456-3463-X
ISBN: 0-7456-3464-8 (pb)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall
For further information on Polity, visit our website: www.polity.co.uk
CONTENTS
Preface to U.K. edition xi
Introduction 1
NEW LESSONS FROM THE OLD WORLD
1. The Slow Death of the American Dream 11
2. The New Land of Opportunity 37
3. The Quiet Economic Miracle 58
THE MAKING OF THE MODERN AGE
4. Space, Time, and Modernity 89
5. Creating the Individual 119
6. Inventing the Ideology of Property 133
7. Forging Capitalist Markets and Nation-States 161
THE COMING GLOBAL ERA
8. Network Commerce in a Globalized Economy 181
9. The “United States” of Europe 197
10. Government Without a Center 214
11. Romancing the Civil Society 234
12. The Immigrant Dilemma 247
13. Unity in Diversity 267
14. Waging Peace 283
15. A Second Enlightenment 315
16. Universalizing the European Dream 358
Notes 387
Bibliography 417
Index 425
For Carol
And for
the Erasmus generation
of college students in Europe
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JEREMY RIFKIN is an internationally renowned social critic and the
best-selling author of The End of Work, The Biotech Century, The Age of
Access, and The Hydrogen Economy, each of which has been translated into
more than fifteen languages. He is president of the Foundation on Eco-
nomic Trends in Washington, D.C. Since 1994, Mr. Rifkin has been a fellow
at the Wharton School’s Executive Education Program, where he lectures
to CEOs and senior corporate management from around the world on
new trends in science and technology and their impacts on the global
economy, society, and the environment. He is also an adviser to heads of
state and government officials in a number of countries. Rifkin currently
serves as an adviser to Romano Prodi, president of the European Com-
mission, the governing body of the European Union. His monthly column
on global issues appears in many of Europe’s leading newspapers and maga-
zines. He lives with his wife, Carol Grunewald, in Washington, D.C.