ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book argues that the Europeanization is a conceptual frame that has allowed both policymakers and populations to conceive of transformation as a process, and that lead to the highly relevant 2004 accession of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary into the European Union. It shows that the concept of Eastern Europe depends both on where one is situated physically and on one's political perspective. Mapping Central European political debate benefits both the regional actors and those to whom Central Europe is still an unknown creature. It provides an understanding of the extent to which important political notions vary in their emotional response in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, and the degree to which they overlap. The book details the practices of public debate on the region that we have been missing for so long.
