ABSTRACT
“Central Europe” is a vague and ambiguous term, more to do with outlook and a state of mind than with a firmly defined geographical region. In the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the Iron Curtain, Central Europeans considered themselves to be culturally part of the West, which had been politically handicapped by the Eastern Soviet bloc. More recently, and with European Union membership, Central Europeans are increasingly thinking of themselves as politically part of the West, but culturally part of the East. This book, with contributions from a large number of scholars from the region, explores the concept of “Central Europe” and a number of other political concepts from an openly Central European perspective. It considers a wide range of issues including politics, nationalism, democracy, and the impact of culture, art and history. Overall, the book casts a great deal of light on the complex nature of “Central Europe”.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|43 pages
Positioning Central Europe
part II|31 pages
Orientalism
chapter 7|5 pages
Problem of “Western” approach to the “East”
chapter 10|7 pages
On “East”, “Central” and “Eastern” Europe
part III|36 pages
Geopolitics
chapter 11|6 pages
Regional geopolitics perspective of contemporary Poland
chapter 13|4 pages
Towards a sustainable Visegrad
chapter 14|8 pages
Popular geopolitics
part IV|83 pages
Nationalism
chapter 19|7 pages
My hero, your enemy
part V|25 pages
Federalism
chapter 26|8 pages
No federation without separation
part VI|34 pages
Liberalism
chapter 30|8 pages
A fall of liberalism foretold?
part VII|38 pages
Civil society
chapter 36|9 pages
Civil society as a jargon
part VIII|39 pages
Participatory democracy
chapter 40|6 pages
Too many actors reshape the plot
part IX|16 pages
Information society
part X|34 pages
Lustration
part XI|33 pages
Power
chapter 48|8 pages
The Kundera paradox
part XII|28 pages
Solidarity
chapter 53|7 pages
“Round table” talks as a conflict resolution tool
part XIII|38 pages
Politics of health
part XIV|32 pages
Cities
part XV|35 pages
Languages of art