Full Description
First published in 2003. Europe: lives in transition gives a voice to people living through transition, opening a door for outsiders to understand how such people have lived - an opportunity for one to speak and another to listen. The book has been deliberately written in an accessible, engaging and first-hand manner. Original quotes from various projects are woven together throughout the text.This book focuses explicitly on the experiences of respondents and functions largely to introduce themes and speakers. The principal themes are: identities, relationships, production, consumption and power. Except for selected crucial theoretical and methodological discussions, any academic commentary, which might overshadow the words of the respondents, is kept to a minimum. A key aim is to engage the readers with the text by confronting them with their own preconceptions and geographical imaginations. Each chapter opens with two activity sections to help readers think about the themes in broader terms, for example, by doing some research themselves. Each chapter closes with two further activity sections for review and discussion.
Contents
1 Introduction (Bettina van Hoven, Tim Unwin, Alienke Jansen)Thinking about transitionApproach of this bookPedagogical structureThe themesReferences2 Transition in context: Theory in post-socialist transformations (John Pickles, Tim Unwin)Liberal political economies of transitionGrounded theory and the cultural turnRenegotiating Cold War politicsCultural memory and post-socialist identitiesTheorizing borderlandsRedrawing state boundaries and the cultural identities of borderlandsBorders, identities and the return to EuropeRethinking state socialist historyGlobalization and Pan-European geographiesConclusionSuggested readingReferences3 Understanding transition (Bettina van Hoven)A 'West side' (short) story'East is East'Understanding transitionThem and UsDefining the OtherI am an interesting oddityConclusionReferences4 Researching transition (Bettina van Hoven (with all contributors))Edwin BakkerThomas BorénMoya FlynnSimon GroenIgnes GulyásKathrin HörschelmannBettina van HovenMargareta LeleaCarmella PfaffenbachSari PöyhönenIzabela RobinsonAlison StenningNigel SwainAurora TrifCraig Young, Sylwia Kaczmarek and Chrissie Gibson5 Identities (Bettina van Hoven)Finding factsUnderstanding terms and conceptsIdentities in transitionPlace identities in LódŸ/ PolandPlace identities in St. Petersburg/ RussiaPlace identities in Mecklenburg-Westpommerania/ the former GDRClaiming identities in Thuringia/ the former GDRClaiming identities in RussiaGender identities in the former GDRReview and discussionPerception and opinionSuggested reading6 Relationships (Bettina van Hoven)Findin
