On the East-West Slope
Globalization, nationalism, racism and discourses
on Central and Eastern Europe
Attila Melegh, sociologist, economist and
historian by training. He has taught in the United States,
Russia, Georgia and Hungary, now is a lecturer at Corvinus
University, Budapest, and also works for the Demographic
Research Institute. Beside discourse analysis he also
does research on sociological and historical aspects
of globalization and international migration.
Melegh's work offers a powerful analysis of the sociological
and symbolic meanings of East-West in Europe after the
end of the Cold War. Melegh exposes the underbelly of
liberal characterizations of East-West, highlighting
the polarizing effect of extreme nationalism and ethnic
racism. The theoretical underpinnings of this work involve
the ideas of preeminent theorists such as Karl Mannheim,
Michel Foucault and more recently Maria Todorova and
Iver Neumann. The importance of this work lies in its
ability to cast into fine relief how the "East-West
Slope" oriented negatively from West to East has
emerged from liberal characterizations of this project.
In addition this is one of the first attempts to link
post-colonial analysis to developments in Eastern Europe.
Contents
List of Tables Acknowledgements Preface Chapter
1. Liberal humanitarian utopia and Eastern and Central
Europe Chapter 2. Population discourses and East-West
exclusions Chapter 3. Floating East. Eastern
and Central Europe on the map of global institutional
actors Chapter 4. I am suspicious of myself.
East-West narratives at the turn of the millennium Conclusion
The sociology of the East-West slope and the recomposition
of Eastern Europe. Bibliography
"This very interesting book contributes a very
different perspective that seeks to explain the rise
of intolerance and racism in postcommunist east-central
Europe. In many ways the argument is quite novel and
provides a welcome addition to the existing literature
on nationalism and racism in postcommunist Europe."
- Slavic Review
2006
230 pages
ISBN 978-963-7326-24-0 cloth $44.95 /
€
34.95 / £30.00
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