1st Edition

Europe Lives in Transition

By Bettina Van Hoven, Tim Unwin Copyright 2004
    198 Pages
    by Routledge

    200 Pages
    by Routledge

    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