Quincy Cloet

Two sides to every story(teller): competition, continuity and change in narratives of European integration

Abstract The word ‘narrative’ has gained prevalence in the vocabulary of European politics and European Union (EU) studies in recent years. Enduring questions about the history, purpose and finality of the European integration process now fall within the scope of the narrative turn: narratives underpinning political discourses and intellectual writings about European integration are increasingly being scrutinised. Yet few of these types of narrative have been put into a longitudinal perspective, in order to address elements of change and continuity in their construction and diffusion of narratives. This article presents a historical survey of the twentieth century, looking at political and intellectual types of narration. This highlights the value of a competitive model for narratives of European integration. Whereas hegemonic narratives are rare, new and competing narratives appear as the norm in the majority of political debates about Europe during the twentieth century, from the interwar antecedents until present-day discussions about the EU. This article questions the singular replacement of an ‘old’ by a ‘new’ narrative and provides evidence for a degree of continuity in how narratives present themselves in diverse forms, as constructions and reproductions of political realities, intellectual thought, and the European past.

Lives in transition: longitudinal analysis from historical sources

Further, she examines the aspect of social capital by describing the social support networks of the respondents, and analyzing how and why they change over time. Specifically, Chapter 3 demonstrates the importance of strong family ties; Chapter 4, illustrates how isolation due to poor family relationships and friendship can be due to weak work ties and strong intimate ties; Chapter 5 shows how social mobility can be attained when immigrants navigate and leverage social networks by strategically positioning themselves to gain access to information and resources that their social class would not normally permit them to attain; Chapter 6 discusses how domestic violence and abuse shapes and informs life outcomes of individuals by preventing them from developing the tools and insight to take advantage of opportunities when they arise; and lastly, Chapter 7 shades light on a case study of one women who is able to use institutional intervention to gain mental health treatment, get well, and as a result pursue education and career advancement. In general, Getting Ahead provides a rich and detailed analysis of the social advancement of low-income immigrant women, thus making an important contribution to the continuing study of immigrants and social mobility. This is especially prominent in Dominguez’s clear argumentation, deft use of visual information in charts and figures, and specifically her review of the literature on immigrants and African American experiences. The book only has two limitations: first, the assumption that by securing and keeping low-paying jobs the women have gained social mobility while it seems that there are limits to this mobility. Second, the nature of qualitative inquiry research findings of this study is not generalizable to the larger immigrant population. Admittedly, this book is invaluable because of the ethnographic longitudinal research design and its potential to provide information and incisive ideas that can lead to further theorizing and research in studying women at the intersection of transnationalism, labor mobility, immigration, neighborhood organization and social capital.

Amy L. Sayward, The United Nations in International HistorySaywardAmy L., The United Nations in International History, London and New York, NY, Bloomsbury, 2017; 328 pp.; £75.00 hbk; ISBN 9781472508836

however they are also retrospectively designed; in other words, the assessment of Abbas’ work is done through the lens of contemporary politics rather than of the day. The central chapters, five and six, look at the relationship between Abbas and Arafat: not an easy one as the authors rightly suggest. The differences between the two were not just about style and leadership, but also about beliefs. Whereas Arafat still considered violence an acceptable tool, Abbas seems to have rejected the notion that violence and terrorism could in fact be successful. As mentioned earlier, upon the death of Arafat, Abbas was elected president; this may have looked like a natural progression to many, but was not certainly taken for granted as proven by the necessity to campaign for his election. The last decade of the Abbas presidency (or dictatorship, as the authors seem to suggest), is the object of the remaining chapters. The most interesting and certainly sad chapter is dedicated to the loss of Palestine by Abbas in 2006 after the election that saw the triumph of Hamas and the loss of Gaza to the latter. It is from this moment onwards, the authors suggest, that Mahmoud Abbas changed attitude and looked to the consolidation of his power. Abbas lacked the leadership to sign the sort of bold peace agreement that Arafat could have imposed on the Palestinians. The last few years have also been marked by a number of events, including the election of Netanyahu as prime minister of Israel, which has left Abbas further isolated and weak domestically. Though the Palestinian cause is still high in the agenda of many international political parties and organizations, a Palestinian leader cannot lead only through international support. The conclusion reached by Rumley and Tibon that younger Palestinians are growing frustrated with the old guard is well taken. Nevertheless, the suggestion that a Palestinian leader should have the capacity to sign an agreement with Israel seems to place the burden of peace on one side only, the one suffering from occupation. The Last Palestinian is certainly a thought-provoking work worth reading and debating. A book on Abbas published when the peace process looks to be dead and buried, has the merit of refocusing our attention on possibilities rather than the obstacles.

A Difficult Neighbourhood. Essays on Russia and East–Central Europe Since World War II

The troubled relationship between Europe’s eastern edge and Russia has precipitated renewed attention to the study of the Eurasian borderlands in recent years. Although the political and academic d...

Europe Since 1989. A History

build, but actually the living dead—a damaged and terrorised subject, indifferent to doctrinal content, continuing to live with its psyche obliterated. Analysing Varlam Shalamov’s Gulag testimonial, Chapter 6 presents how the ‘living dead’ are produced and what they look like. The prose of this Kolyma camp survivor provides more empirical evidence for Prozorov’s argument. Chapter 7 provides a theoretical summary. Stalinist biopolitics failed on microand macro-levels, Prozorov believes, because anterior forms of life cannot be forced out by a new one. The only way to let an idea affect life is to allow its diffusion throughout the world, letting living beings become captivated by it and act on its basis in their lives. He concludes that the Stalinist biopolitical mode and the Stalinist project that used it to govern failed for this reason. For Prozorov, political projects following the biopolitical rationality of constructing a united form of life lead only to a retreat to the old form, a simulacrum of reality, and the violence that characterised High Stalinism. The de-Stalinisation of postsocialist Russia must therefore change this biopolitical rationality. This book provides a mostly convincing case for its argument. Unlike traditional biopolitical theory, which views the biopolitical modes of Stalinism and of Western rationality as similar, Prozorov finds distinctions between those two modes. In addition, he identifies the link between the Stalinist biopolitical mode and the destiny of Stalinism. Prozorov makes valuable points, providing a new perspective on Stalinist biopolitics. However, this book still has room for improvement. Prozorov uses mostly secondary sources to discuss governmental rationality. It feels like a relatively limited and fragmented approach compared to the systematic use and large volume of primary sources examined in Chapter 6, where he discusses subjectivity. Prozorov could strengthen his argument with more primary-source evidence. In addition, Prozorov seems to regard the biopolitical modes that seek to construct a united form of life in contemporary Russia and other places as similar to those in the Stalinist era, and predicts that they will follow the same Stalinist track of failure. I argue that this could ignore the effects of diverse histories and cultures on shaping these biopolitical modes. While Prozorov’s interpretation of Stalinist biopolitics is convincing, he would add weight to his argument by further discussing as to whether these biopolitical modes would be affected by such diversities and avoid similar failures. Overall, this book is innovative in its examination of Stalinist biopolitics, though the author could provide more evidence and be more circumspect in applying his argument to other places and times. It would be helpful for anyone interested in biopolitics or Soviet socialism.

Serbia and the Balkan Front, 1914. The Outbreak of the Great War

The centenary of the outbreak of World War I in 2014 brought a wealth of new literature about the war to the foreground, yet few of these books have taken a different angle to the events on the bat...