Sabine Fischer, Heiko Pleines (eds.):

The EU and Central & Eastern Europe. Successes and Failures of Europeanization in Politics and Society

ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-89821-948-8, ISSN 1863-8716

The changes in post-socialist Central and Eastern European countries have been affected by external influences more than any proceding wave of democratization. The contributions in this volume reflect the wide variety of Europeanizatiion processes taking place in Central and Eastern Europe. They not only serve to illustrate the significant differences among post-socialist transformations, but also highlight the variety of theoretical concepts and methodological approaches at our disposal to research different aspects of Europeanization in the broader context of globalization and identity changes.

The first part of the book deals with Europeanization "from above", i.e. with the European Commission's deliberate promotion of specific rules and related policies during the integration process. In the second part of the book, the perspectives shifts to Europeanization as a process of changing perceptions, values and identities. The third and final part of this book goes beyond Europeanization approach. It places Europeanization in the context of various globalization pressures on civil society.

This book presents some of the best papers of the Changing Europe Summer School on "Central and Eastern Europe in a globalized world", held at University of Bremen, Germany, in July/August 2008.