Europe : Lives in Transition / Bettina Van Hoven, Tim Unwin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hoven, Bettina van, author.

Unwin, Tim, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Post-communism--Europe, Eastern.

Post-communism.

Political geography.

Geopolitics--Europe.

Geopolitics.

Group identities--Europe, Eastern.

Group identities.

Europe, Eastern--Social conditions--1989-.

Europe, Eastern.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (198 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Routledge, 2016.

Summary:

Europe: lives in transition gives a voice to people living through transition, opening a door for outsiders to understand how such people have lived - an opportunity for one to speak and another to listen. The book has been deliberately written in an accessible, engaging and first-hand manner. Original quotes from various projects are woven together throughout the text. This book focuses explicitly on the experiences of respondents and functions largely to introduce themes and speakers. The principal themes are: identities, relationships, production, consumption and power. Except for selected crucial theoretical and methodological discussions, any academic commentary, which might overshadow the words of the respondents, is kept to a minimum. A key aim is to engage the readers with the text by confronting them with their own preconceptions and geographical imaginations. Each chapter opens with two activity sections to help readers think about the themes in broader terms, for example, by doing some research themselves. Each chapter closes with two further activity sections for review and discussion.

Contents:

Cover; Half Title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; List of figures; List of contributors; Acknowledgements; 1 Introduction; Thinking about transition; Approach of this book; Pedagogical structure; The themes; References; 2 Transition in context: Theory in post-socialist transformations; Introduction; Liberal political economies of transition; Grounded theory and the cultural turn; Renegotiating Cold War geopolitics; Cultural memory and post-socialist identities; Theorising borderlands; Redrawing state boundaries and the cultural identities of borderlands

Borders, identities and the return to EuropeRethinking state socialist history; Globalisation and pan-European geographies; Conclusion; Notes; Suggested reading; References; 3 Understanding transition; A 'West Side' (short) story; 'East is East'; Understanding transition; Them and Us; Defining the Other; 'I am an interesting oddity'; Conclusion; Notes; References; 4 Researching transition; Edwin Bakker; Thomas Borén; Moya Flynn; Simon Groen; Ágnes Gulyás; Kathrin Hörschelmann; Bettina van Hoven; Margareta Lelea; Carmella Pfaffenbach; Sari Pöyhönen; Izabela Robinson; Alison Stenning

Nigel SwainAurora Trif; Craig Young, Sylwia Kaczmarek and Chrissie Gibson; 5 Identities; Finding facts; Understanding terms and concepts; Identities in transition; Place identities in Lódz/Poland; Place identities in St Petersburg/Russia; Place identities in Mecklenburg-Westpommerania/the former GDR; Claiming identities in Thuringia/the former GDR; Claiming identities in Russia; Gender identities in the former GDR; Review and discussion; Perception and opinion; Notes; Suggested reading; 6 Relationships; Finding facts; Understanding terms and concepts; Relationships in transition

Remembering the co-operativeA feeling of 'sameness'; Holding the co-operative together; Starting disintegration of the community; Disturbance in the community; Friendships; Families: children and parents; Marriage; Re-establishing relationships?; New community members; Review and discussion; Perception and opinion; Note; Suggested reading; 7 Production; Finding facts; Understanding terms and concepts; Production in transition; Regional strategies within a Special Economic Zone; Business expansion for profit; Survival strategies; Success; Struggle; Exploitation

Restructuring (a manufacturing enterprise in Poland)Restructuring (publishing houses in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland); Positive experiences with Western management practices; Negative reactions to Western management practices; Review and discussion; Perception and opinion; Suggested reading; 8 Consumption; Finding facts; Understanding terms and concepts; Consumption in transition; Tourism and travel; Opportunity: means to develop identity; Opportunity: choice; Barrier: estrangement; Barrier: lack of money; Consuming the natural environment/Russia

Consuming the natural environment/Poland

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed May 3, 2016).

ISBN:

1-315-84762-0

1-317-90443-5

1-317-90442-7

9781315847627

OCLC:

948171380