Europe Since 1989 charts the development of Europe east and west since the 1989 revolutions. It analyses the emergent European society, the development of a European public sphere, and civil society. Most books on Europe are heavily biased to the West and Europe Since 1989 takes the opposite approach. It argues that the transformation of the postcommunist world has implications for the whole of Europe and explores the interplay between long-term fundamental tendencies and chance events and the possible futures which confront contemporary Europe.
With close attention to political, economic and other social transformations, and an appendix which gives special attention to European macro regions (Nordic/Baltic Europe, Mediterranean Europe), it offers a sociology of Europe with a strong interdisciplinary emphasis.
1. Preface(s) and Introduction: Chance and necessity 2. After 1989 3. Path Dependence: Causal models of postcommunist transition 4. East-West Divergences and Convergences 5. Convergence and Catching-Up: EU enlargement and colour revolutions 6. The Russian Enigma 7. European Democracy and Civil Society 8. Out of the Crisis? 9. Europeanisation and the European Union: Conclusion 10. Appendix on Territoriality
Biography
William Outhwaite is Professor of Sociology (emeritus) at Newcastle University. His recent books in this area include European Society, Polity, 2008, Critical Theory and Contemporary Europe, Continuum, 2012 and (with Larry Ray) Social Theory and Postcommunism, Blackwell, 2005.
