Whose claim and whose risk?

A comment on Georg Vobruba's "The Enlargement Crisis of the European Union: Limits of the Dialectics of Integration and Expansion" (2003) agrees that there is a critical need to reform traditional institutions that manage East-West relations, but points out dilemmas faced by East Cent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of European social policy 2003-02, Vol.13 (1), p.58-60
Main Author: Szalai, Julia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
East and West
Eastern Europe
Europe
European integration
European Union
Futures (of Society)
Governance
Institutions
Policy studies
Political Integration
Social policy
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:A comment on Georg Vobruba's "The Enlargement Crisis of the European Union: Limits of the Dialectics of Integration and Expansion" (2003) agrees that there is a critical need to reform traditional institutions that manage East-West relations, but points out dilemmas faced by East Central European societies that are trying to respond to the "often dubious challenges of unconditional adaptation to the prescriptions formulated by the West." It is maintained that the peoples of East Central Europe consider membership in the European Union (EU) a "readmission to their true historical path," as well as the core of their identity. However, the East & West are not on equal footing, & Eastern Europe's dependent situation can easily be misused by the West. Recent movement by the West toward "half-inclusion/half-exclusion" is viewed as an attempt to place accession countries in a category of secondary citizenship, inducing responses of increased populism & antimarket legislation. The dangers of recent social developments & the risk of political turmoil & increasing ethnic/racial conflicts resulting from social, economic, & political exclusion are discussed. J. Lindroth
ISSN:0958-9287