First published in 2003. 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.
1 Introduction (Bettina van Hoven, Tim Unwin, Alienke Jansen)
Thinking about transition
Approach of this book
Pedagogical structure
The themes
References
2 Transition in context: Theory in post-socialist transformations (John Pickles, Tim Unwin)
Liberal political economies of transition
Grounded theory and the cultural turn
Renegotiating Cold War politics
Cultural memory and post-socialist identities
Theorizing borderlands
Redrawing state boundaries and the cultural identities of borderlands
Borders, identities and the return to Europe
Rethinking state socialist history
Globalization and Pan-European geographies
Conclusion
Suggested reading
References
3 Understanding transition (Bettina van Hoven)
A ‘West side’ (short) story
‘East is East’
Understanding transition
Them and Us
Defining the Other
"I am an interesting oddity"
Conclusion
References
4 Researching transition (Bettina van Hoven (with all contributors))
Edwin Bakker
Thomas Borén
Moya Flynn
Simon Groen
Ignes Gulyás
Kathrin Hörschelmann
Bettina van Hoven
Margareta Lelea
Carmella Pfaffenbach
Sari Pöyhönen
Izabela Robinson
Alison Stenning
Nigel Swain
Aurora Trif
Craig Young, Sylwia Kaczmarek and Chrissie Gibson
5 Identities (Bettina van Hoven)
Finding facts
Understanding terms and concepts
Identities in transition
Place identities in LódŸ/ 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
Suggested reading
6 Relationships (Bettina van Hoven)
Finding facts
Understanding terms and concepts
Relationships in transition
Remembering the co-operative
A 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 new relationships?
New community members
Review and discussion
Perception and opinion
Suggested reading
7 Production (Bettina van Hoven)
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 (Bettina van Hoven)
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
A system for consumption/ Poland
A system for consumption/ Hungary
Selling the city/ Poland
Review and discussion
Perception and opinion
Suggested reading
9 Power (Bettina van Hoven)
Finding facts
Understanding terms and concepts
Power in transition
Collaboration between authorities and NGOs
The power of the people
Outside the circle of power
Past empowerment
The next generation
Departure
Uncertainty and neglect
Review and discussion
Perception and opinion
Suggested reading
10 Looking back on ‘Lives in transition’ (Bettina van Hoven)
Materials
Biography
Bettina Van Hoven, Tim Unwin