The Legacy of Division: East and West after 1989

Published by Central European University Press 2020

The Legacy of Division

East and West after 1989

Edited by: Ferenc Laczó and Luka Lisjak Gabrijelčič

https://doi.org/10.1515/9789633863756

Overview
Contents

About this book

This volume examines the legacy of the East–West divide since the implosion of the communist regimes in Europe. The ideals of 1989 have largely been frustrated by the crises and turmoil of the past decade. The liberal consensus was first challenged as early as the mid-2000s. In Eastern Europe, grievances were directed against the prevailing narratives of transition and ever sharper ethnic-racial antipathies surfaced in opposition to a supposedly postnational and multicultural West. In Western Europe, voices regretting the European Union's supposedly careless and premature expansion eastward began to appear on both sides of the left–right and liberal–conservative divides. The possibility of convergence between Europe's two halves has been reconceived as a threat to the European project.

In a series of original essays and conversations, thirty-three contributors from the fields of European and global history, politics and culture address questions fundamental to our understanding of Europe today: How have perceptions and misperceptions between the two halves of the continent changed over the last three decades? Can one speak of a new East–West split? If so, what characterizes it and why has it reemerged? The contributions demonstrate a great variety of approaches, perspectives, emphases, and arguments in addressing the daunting dilemma of Europe's assumed East–West divide.

Author / Editor information

Laczó Ferenc :

Ferenc Laczó is an assistant professor in European History at Maastricht University.

Lisjak Gabrijelčič Luka :

Luka Lisjak Gabrijelčič is a Slovene historian, political analyst and translator.

Reviews

Peter Rutland:
"This rich and insightful collection of twenty-eight essays, originally published in Eurozine online in 2019, reflects on the fate of eastern Europe thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is an impressive but depressing compilation that captures the angst experienced by many of the region’s inhabitants—and by a majority of outside observers." https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/slavic-review/article/legacy-of-division-east-and-west-after-1989-ed-ferenc-laczo-and-luka-lisjak-gabrijelcic-budapest-central-european-university-press-2020-x-337-pp-appendix-notes-bibliography-index-illustrations-2999-paper/2BCE120EC29C4772AD793957CED9B7DE

Petra Guasti:
"Some books answer questions, and some books inspire readers to ask more questions. The Legacy of Division belongs to the latter group. In an essayistic way, it invites a broad audience to consider questions of the present and the past. Readers might include scholars, students, and journalists, but thanks to the essayistic style, any member of the broader public interested in understanding the varied nature and legacies of the East-West divisions will find the book engaging. The future is open, and our thinking about it is richer thanks to The Legacy of Division." https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=999140

Susan Glanz:

"The overthrow of communism was peaceful in the majority of Central and Eastern European countries. Most citizens of East Central Europe viewed membership in the European Community as a prized goal that will aid rapid improvement in their standards of living, seamless inclusion in the European Market, and a democratic political system. While some economic successes cannot be denied, transformation was slow and unequal. After the global financial crisis of 2008, economic liberalism became burdened with statism, paternalism and oligarchic rule; and the crony model of capitalism or elements of authoritarianism (“illiberal democracy”) reappeared. Therefore, largely, the conclusion drawn by most of the contributors for The Legacy of Division is that new curtains have appeared, but these are made of much lighter materials than the old Iron Curtain."

Kiran Klaus Patel:
"The days when 1989 was simply seen as the triumph of liberal democracy and western capitalism are long gone. This timely collection of essays is extremely useful for understanding today's Europe, whose new fault lines often reflect the legacies of division as well as contemporary transnational and global connections."

Andrea Pető:
"This volume is a brave attempt to tackle the complexity of problems facing Europe today. The annus mirabilis of 1989 has not delivered the promised miracle to everybody. The incomplete convergence of Europe's two halves has resulted in a lack of institutional transparency and in inequality of opportunity and material insecurity for too many. These analyses help us to respond to the increasing threat to the liberal democratic order and the European project."

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Introduction. The legacy of division: East and West after 1989 Ferenc Laczó and Luka Lisjak Gabrijelčič Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Staring through the mocking glass: Three misperceptions of the East-West divide since 1989 Dorothee Bohle and Béla Greskovits Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Back to Cold War and beyond Richard Sakwa Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	20
The price of unity The transformation of Germany and east central Europe after 1989 Philipp Ther Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	30
Thirty years on: Germany’s unfinished unity Claus Leggewie Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	48
This mess of troubled times Karl Schlögel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
The mythology of the East-West divide Jan Zielonka Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	70
Anxious Europe Florian Bieber Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
‘But this is the world we live in’ Corruption, everyday managing, and civic mobilization in post-socialist Romania Jill Massino Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	84
The end of the liberal world as we know it? Two walls in 1989 James Wang Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
Wests, East-Wests, and divides Niall Chithelen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	104
The Great Substitution Holly Case Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
The struggle over 1989. The rise and contestation of eastern European populism Bogdan C. Iacob, James Mark and Tobias Rupprecht Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
Beyond anti-democratic temptation Marius Stan and Vladimir Tismaneanu Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	134
Dissidence – doubt – creativity: Revisiting 1983 Joachim von Puttkamer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	144
Gendering dissent: Human rights, gender history and the road to 1989 Robert Brier Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	154
Creating feminism in the shadow of male heroes That other story of 1989 Zsófia Lóránd Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	177
Legacies of 1989 for dissent today Barbara J. Falk Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
Of hopes and ends: Czech transformations after 1989 Ondřej Slačálek Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Just because the map says so, doesn’t mean it’s true: Thirty years after 1989, from an island perspective Owen Hatherley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
The East in you never leaves Julia Sonnevend Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
Freedom of movement: A European dialectic Jannis Panagiotidis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	232
‘The Romanians are coming’ Emerging divisions and enduring misperceptions in contemporary Europe Diana Georgescu Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
The two faces of European disillusionment: An end to myths about the West and the East Jarosław Kuisz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	254
Go East! Aleida Assmann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	264
‘The future was next to you’ An interview with Ivan Krastev on ’89 and the end of liberal hegemony Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	275
‘The distorting mirror’ A conversation between Igor Pomerantsev and Peter Pomerantsev Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	291
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	298
List of Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	316
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	329

Language: English
Publisher: Central European University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 344
Keywords: East & West; Central &; Eastern Europe; European Union; Political studies; Populism; Postcommunism

eBook

Published: October 15, 2020
ISBN: 9789633863756