Luuk van Middelaar

Luuk van Middelaar (b. 1973) is a philosopher and historian who studied at Groningen University and at the Sorbonne and the EHESS in Paris. Since his debut with Politicide (1999), which won him the prestigious Prix de Paris, he has become an influential voice in public debates. His De passage naar Europa received the Socrates Prize 2010 for the best and most original philosophy book. For the past ten years Van Middelaar has familiarized himself with the political worlds of Brussels and The Hague from the inside as a political adviser. He is currently the speech writer of the first President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy.

Politicide

De moord op de politiek in de Franse filosofie

(Historische Uitgeverij, 1999, 253 pages)

‘Why has democracy so often been given a bad name by French intellectuals?’ philosopher and historian Luuk van Middelaar asks in Politicide. Sartre’s heritage is tainted by his support for totalitarian regimes, but even such philosophers as Foucault and Deleuze felt at best lukewarm about parliamentary democracy, with its compromises and sluggishness.

The Passage to Europe

Geschiedenis van een begin

(Historische Uitgeverij, 2009, 528 pages)

In The Passage to Europe Luuk van Middelaar makes a highly original connection between the world of European power politics since 1500 and the Brussels institutions of our own day: Europe as reflected in its Union. No dry cataloguing of treaties and organizations here but the untold story of the politicians responsible for creating and leading Europe, from Spaak to Sarkozy, Thatcher to Merkel.

Alarums & excursions

Improvising politics on the European stage

(Historische Uitgeverij, 2017)

‘Europe From the Summit enables readers to grasp and interpret Europe’s fraught power struggle. Luuk van Middelaar shows how politicians in Brussels, Berlin, Paris, London and The Hague are reshaping the Union for the future in fits and starts.’
- Athenaeum.nl

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