Willfried Spohn - Böcker

In Can Europe Work? Germany and the Reconstruction of Postcommunist Societies, eight scholars from the United States and Europe discuss the problems posed for European unity by the collapse of communism and the reemergence of Germany as Europe’s strongest state. Among the topics addressed are a comparison of nationalism in Western and Eastern Europe, the intellectual origins of the often antiliberal and antidemocratic East European nationalism, deteriorating popular support for the Polish Roman Catholic Church, a comparative analysis of the German nation-state in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, German economic influence in East Central Europe, the role of Germany in the breakup of Yugoslavia, the causes of recession in Eastern Europe, and a sobering study of Russia’s current economic problems. The book is expected to attract a large audience in both North America and Europe among academic specialists on the region as well as those concerned with policy issues arising from the turbulent environment of postcommunist East Central Europe.

Is it possible to create a collective European identity? In this volume, leading scholars assess the link between collective identity construction in Europe and the multiple memory discourses that intervene in this construction process. The authors believe that the exposure of national collective memories to an enlarging communicative space within Europe affects the ways in which national memories are framed. Through this perspective, several case studies of East and West European memory discourses are presented. The first part of the volume elaborates how collective memory can be identified in the new Europe. The second part presents case studies on national memories and related collective identities in respect of European integration and its extension to the East. This timely work is the first to investigate collective identity construction on a pan-European scale and will be of interest to academics and postgraduate students of political sociology and European studies.

This book provides theoretical and empirical discussion of migration, identity and Europeanisation. With contributions from leading international scholars, it provides both an overview of theoretical perspectives and a comprehensive set of case studies, covering both Eastern and Western Europe. Contributors draw from disciplines such as historical sociology, discourse analysis, social psychology and migration studies, while the editors bring these subjects into a coherent theoretical and historical framework, to discuss the emergence of new collective identities and new borders in Europe today.

Providing a comprehensive and comparative analysis of the way national and European identities are intertwined in old and new member states of the European Union, this volume assembles nine country case studies. Each country has experienced different processes of state formation, nation-building and democratization, thus they have each developed different forms of national identity and different patterns of interaction between national and European identities. The case studies illuminate the similarities and differences in how national and European identities have evolved among the nine countries. Rich in empirical data, the volume examines the historical entanglement of national and European collective identities and is therefore well suited for courses on European studies including European integration and enlargement, international relations and sociology.

Is it possible to create a collective European identity? In this volume, leading scholars assess the link between collective identity construction in Europe and the multiple memory discourses that intervene in this construction process. The authors believe that the exposure of national collective memories to an enlarging communicative space within Europe affects the ways in which national memories are framed. Through this perspective, several case studies of East and West European memory discourses are presented. The first part of the volume elaborates how collective memory can be identified in the new Europe. The second part presents case studies on national memories and related collective identities in respect of European integration and its extension to the East. This timely work is the first to investigate collective identity construction on a pan-European scale and will be of interest to academics and postgraduate students of political sociology and European studies.

Providing a comprehensive and comparative analysis of the way national and European identities are intertwined in old and new member states of the European Union, this volume assembles nine country case studies. Each country has experienced different processes of state formation, nation-building and democratization, thus they have each developed different forms of national identity and different patterns of interaction between national and European identities. The case studies illuminate the similarities and differences in how national and European identities have evolved among the nine countries. Rich in empirical data, the volume examines the historical entanglement of national and European collective identities and is therefore well suited for courses on European studies including European integration and enlargement, international relations and sociology.