The year 1989 brought political upheavals in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, the effects of which have not yet ended. The political discourse of the Cold War period disintegrated and gave way to competing alternatives. The contributors to this book are linguists, discourse analysts and social scientists, from all corners of the continent, whose tools of analysis shed light on the crucial two years of transition during which political concepts and political interaction changed in dramatic and sometimes violent ways.

The year 1989 brought political upheavals in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, the effects of which have not yet ended. The political discourse of the Cold War period disintegrated and gave way to competing alternatives. The contributors to this book are linguists, discourse analysts and social scientists, from all corners of the continent, whose tools of analysis shed light on the crucial two years of transition during which political concepts and political interaction changed in dramatic and sometimes violent ways.