The Politics of East European Area Studies

The Politics of East European Area Studies PDF

Author: Gareth Dale

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-13

Total Pages: 90

ISBN-13: 1317226860

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Following the end of the Cold War and European Union enlargement, in what sense does Eastern Europe continue to exist as a meaningful geo-political concept? In addressing this question, contributors to this volume—Alex Cistelecan, Robert Bideleux, Katalin Miklóssy and Dieter Segert—tease out the implications for an ‘Area Studies’ approach to the region. They examine its contradictory situation within discourses of ‘orientalisation’: on one hand, posited as the ‘underdeveloped’ pendant to its western neighbours; on the other, largely Christian by religion and an integral part of a continent that dominated the world. They uncover the roots of area studies in the ‘colonial paradigm’ by which great powers promote the creation of predictive, ‘problem-solving’ knowledge that is immediately apprehendable for decision makers, helping them to take advantage of a region’s resources and strategic position, but which tends to homogenise the region’s geography and history. For critical inquiry, they argue, the challenge is to delineate transparently the reasons underlying Eastern Europe’s construction as an area of study, to identify the epistemological interests of motivated organisations such as funding agencies and political bodies, and to counter the ongoing orientalism of Western perspectives toward the East. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe.

The Routledge Handbook of East European Politics

The Routledge Handbook of East European Politics PDF

Author: Adam Fagan

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-08-15

Total Pages: 484

ISBN-13: 1317418875

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The Routledge Handbook of East European Politics is an authoritative overview that will help a wide readership develop an understanding of the region in all its political, economic, and social complexity. Including Central Europe, the Baltic republics, South Eastern Europe, and the Western Balkans, as well as all the countries of the former Soviet Union, it is unrivalled in breadth and depth, affording a comprehensive overview of Eastern European politics provided by leading experts in the fields of comparative politics, international relations, and public administration. Through a series of cutting-edge articles, it seeks to explain and understand patterns of Eastern European politics today. The Routledge Handbook of East European Politics will be a key reference point both for advanced-level students developing knowledge about the subject, researchers producing new material in the area, and those interested and working in the fields of East European Politics, Russian Politics, EU Politics, and more broadly in European Politics, Comparative Politics, Democratization Studies, and International Relations.

The Rebirth of Area Studies

The Rebirth of Area Studies PDF

Author: Zoran Milutinovic

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-12-12

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 178673608X

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Area Studies became increasingly common after World War II as a means of responding to perceived 'external threats' from the Soviet Union and China. After the Cold War and in the face of increasingly rapid globalisation, it seemed inevitable that Area Studies – institutionally and intellectually – would slowly degenerate. But this has not been the case, and there has recently been a resurgence of interest in it as an effective and positive research paradigm. Responding to this renewed interest, this book brings together an esteemed group of contributors at the cutting edge of the field to consider the state of Area Studies today and its prospects for the future. The Rebirth of Area Studies demonstrates that numerous aspects of the research paradigm in fact recommend it as well-suited for the present moment and the challenges posed by globalisation, both as a means to overcome disciplinary limitations and to increase self-reflexivity. Area Studies research is grounded in place-specific knowledge, yet by definition it transcends nation as the basic unit of analysis and thus empowers comparative and trans-national approaches. This book outlines a new, critical Area Studies for the 21st century – self-reflexive, aware of its limitations and conscious of its origins in geopolitical, strategic or ideological considerations – and is essential reading for historians, geographers and political scientists.

The Politics of Knowledge

The Politics of Knowledge PDF

Author: David L. Szanton

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2004-09-20

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 9780520245365

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The usefulness and political implications of Area Studies programs are currently debated within the Academy and the Administration, where they are often treated as one homogenous and stagnant domain of scholarship. The essays in this volume document the various fields’ distinctive character and internal heterogeneity as well as the dynamism resulting from their evolving engagements with funders, US and international politics, and domestic constituencies. The authors were chosen for their long-standing interest in the intellectual evolution of their fields. They describe the origins and histories of US-based Area Studies programs, highlighting their complex, generative, and sometimes contentious relationships with the social science and humanities disciplines and their diverse contributions to the regions of the world with which they are concerned.

Social Media and Politics in Central and Eastern Europe

Social Media and Politics in Central and Eastern Europe PDF

Author: Paweł Surowiec

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-05

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1317328035

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Social media are increasingly revolutionising the ways in which political communication works, and their importance for engaging citizens in politics and public affairs is well understood by political actors. This book surveys current developments in social media and politics in a range of Central and Eastern European countries, including Ukraine and Russia. It explores the process of adoption of social media by politicians, journalists and civic activists, examines the impact of the different social and cultural backgrounds of the countries studied, and discusses specific political situations, such as the 2012 protests in Moscow and the 2014 EuroMaidan events in Ukraine, where social media played an important role. The book concludes by addressing how the relationship between social media and politics is likely to develop and how it might affect the still relatively new democracies in the region.

Southeast European Studies in a Globalizing World

Southeast European Studies in a Globalizing World PDF

Author: Christian Promitzer

Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 3643905955

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Since the early 1990s, Southeast European studies have undergone profound changes, being shaped by the wars of Yugoslav succession and the ramifications of post-socialism, coupled with democratic deficiencies, which characterize most of Southeast Europe. The countries which it encompasses rest uneasily on the periphery of the developed variant of Western capitalism, but they have nonetheless to contend with the challenges of adjusting to a market economy. The imprint of these contexts on academic research has led to a discussion of the role of Southeast European studies. It is the task of this volume to summarize and raise awareness of this discussion. (Series: Studies on South East Europe - Vol. 16) [Subject: European Studies, Sociology, Politics]

Brexit, President Trump, and the Changing Geopolitics of Eastern Europe

Brexit, President Trump, and the Changing Geopolitics of Eastern Europe PDF

Author: Theodor Tudoroiu

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-04-05

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 3319779206

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This book analyzes the combined consequences of Brexit and of the new US foreign policy under President Trump on the geopolitical situation of Eastern Europe. It perceives the evolution of the East European regional security complex as a struggle between the European Union's Kantian, win-win geopolitical vision and Russia's neoclassical geopolitics, also promoted by President Trump. In the most probable scenario, the latter approach will have the upper hand. The EU's post-Brexit control by the Franco-German axis will likely be followed by the geopolitical irrelevance of the EU due to the renationalization of member states' foreign policy, with Germany becoming the main West European actor. Consequently, Eastern Europe will be turned into the arena of a mainly three-cornered neoclassical geopolitics rivalry opposing Russia, the Franco-German axis and then Germany, and the US in alliance with the post-Brexit UK and certain East European states. The book will appeal to scholars across the fields of International Relations, Geopolitics, European Studies, and Area Studies.

Constructing South East Europe

Constructing South East Europe PDF

Author: Dimitar Bechev

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2011-03-15

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 0230306314

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Regional cooperation has become a distinctive feature of the Balkans, an area known for its turbulent politics. Exploring the origins and dynamics of this change, this book highlights the transformative power of the EU and other international actors.