European regionalism and the left / edited by Gerard Strange and Owen Worth.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Strange, Gerard.

Worth, Owen, 1974-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Regionalism--European Union countries.

Regionalism.

European Union countries.

Physical Description:

xiv, 207 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : distributed in the United States exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

Summary:

Written against a backdrop of global economic and political turbulence as well as a mounting crisis for the European Union, this book examines the relationship between contemporary European regionalism and the broadly defined political left. It does so by situating the analysis of the EU within the wider context of the global rise of neoliberalism, dating from the 1970s. This provides the background against which much left politics has subsequently been articulated. Bringing together contributions from internationally recognized critical scholars writing from a plurality of perspectives, encompassing international political economy, European integration studies, European politics and social theory, the book offers up fresh critical insights into the meaning of European regionalism and the possibilities and limitations it creates for progressive left politics. The book provides contrasting left perspectives on the history, meaning and political implications of core regionalist projects, notably the discursive construction of the European economy; and the project of European monetary union. The book critically debates the parameters of constraint, opportunity and ideological contestation implied by such structures and related institutions. It goes on to examine how European regionalism and integration has fundamentally challenged traditional, state-centric, forms of left politics, such as social democracy, and forced the left to rearticulate its visions of what progressive politics means. Unlike many earlier critical studies of this subject, European regionalism and the left consciously eschews any specific radical theoretical narrative or research programme in favour of an open-ended critical engagement with the political economy of contemporary Europe. As such it attempts to open up left analysis of Europe to broader traditions of critical inquiry. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I European regionalism, neoliberalism and world order

1 US power and the crisis of social democracy in Europe's second project of integration / Magnus Ryner Ryner, Magnus 21

2 The discursive construction of neoliberalism: the EU and the contested substance of European economic space / Ben Rosamond Rosamond, Ben 39

3 The euro and open regionalism in the politics of 'permanent renegotiation' and the international political economy of monetary power: a critical engagement with 'new constitutionalism' / Gerard Strange Strange, Gerard 62

Part II Europe and the transformation of the Left

4 Europeanisation of the Left: cooperation or competition? / Michael Holmes Holmes, Michael, Simon Lightfoot Lightfoot, Simon 85

5 The impossibility of social democracy: from unfailing optimism to enlightened pessimism in the 're-social democratisation' debate / David J. Bailey Bailey, David J. 101

6 Cooption or resistance? Trade unions and neoliberal restructuring in Europe / Andreas Bieler Bieler, Andreas 119

7 Beyond the Third Way: regionalism and socialist renewal in Europe / Owen Worth Worth, Owen 135

Part III The limits and potentials of greater European regionalism

8 Habermas on Europe: a critique / Lawrence Wilde Wilde, Lawrence 153

9 The edges of Europe: the 'Eastern Marches' and the problematic nature of a 'wider Europe' / Neil Robinson Robinson, Neil 169.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780719085734

071908573X

OCLC:

798615470