40039 - Post-Socialist Transition and EU Enlargement Eastwards

Learning outcomes

A general knowledge on contemporary history and contemporary Europe affairs is required

The main goal is that of providing the students of a good knowledge on the reasons explainig the collapse of Communist regimes and the different approaches to post-communist transitional processes in a comparative way, then of the EU Enlargement process Eastwards through a comparative and interdisciplinary approach too. Students are expected to handle the main relevant aspects of this subject by considering the peculiarities of the candidate countries and their expectations, the contents and the approach of the EU to regional strategies and the New Neighbourhood policy.

Course contents

Politics of Post-communist Transition will be treated by considering the impact of both the communist collapse and the process of EU Enlargement. Starting from the EC relations with Central/East European countries during the Cold War, lectures will analyze the EC/EU reactions to the fall of communism. Then, the evolving relations from cooperation to association will be focussed, along with Agenda 2000, the accession negotiations and the impact of conditionality into the process of East-Central European's countries adaptation to the accession requirements.

The course will concentrate also on countries not involved in the first and second wave of the Enlargement, but deeply affected by instability, particularly the Balkans. In this context the widening and deepening of EU will be discussed while meeting needs and difficulties of post-communist transition. The problems of minorities, state sovereignty, and nationalism will be considered within this framework of reference with comparative approaches between the EU and the post-communist societies. The role of Russia and its relations with the EU both in the Balkan stabilization and in the euro-zone development will be also discussed in the perspective of the European future developments of integration.

Post-socialist Transition Processes and EU Enlargement Eastwards

 

Syllabus

 

 

 

 

1st class

Introduction to the course, brief overview on the key concepts: post-socialism, transition, enlargement.

Leslie Holmes, Post-Communism: An Introduction, Cambridge, Polity Press, 1998;

 

2d class

Brief overview on the Marxist-Leninist doctrine on communism and revolution and analysis on

Protocommunist cultures in Slavic societies as ground for the establishment of a communist society

Tom Bottomore (ed.), A Dictionary of Marxist Thought, Blackwell, Cambride, 1991 (II edition)

 

3d class

The relationship between communism and modernity and post-modernity in Russia.

·        Ivan T. Berend, Central and Eastern Europe 1944-1993. Detour from the Periphery to the Periphery, Cambridge UP, 1998;

·        Lannie P. Johnson, Enemies, Neighbours, Friends, Oxford UP, 1996;

·        Alan M. Ball, Imaging America. Influence and Images in Twentieth-Century Russia, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2003

 

 

4th class

Peoples Democracies and the alternatives to the soviet model.

·        Francois Frejto, Histoire des Democratie Populaires, Ed. du Sevil, 1952.

·        Norman Neimark and Leonid Gibianskii (Eds.), The Establishment of Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe, 1944-1949, Westviev Press 1997;

·        Djilas Aleksa, The Contested Country: Yugoslav Unity and Communist Revolution, 1919-1953 Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1991

 

 

5th class

“The Gorbachev factor”, perestroika, glasnost and the collapse of Communist regimes

·        Robin Okey, The Demise of Communist East Europe. 1989 in Context, Arnold, London, 2003;

·        Archie Brown, The Gorbachev Factor, Oxford University Press, 1997

 

6th  class

The reunification of Germany and self-determination processes in Europe

Henry Huttenbach, Francesco Privitera, Self-determination. From Versailles to Dayton its Historical Legacy, Longo Editore Ravenna, 1999

 

7th class

The Yugoslav collapse and the new/old wars in the Balkans

·        Baruch Watchel Andrew, Making a Nation, Breaking a Nation, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1998;

·        Dusan Janjic (ed.), Ethnic Conflicts and their Managements. The Case of Yugoslavia, Longo Editore, Ravenna, 1997;

·        Lampe John, Yugoslavia as History: Twice There Was a Country, Cambridge, Eng., 1996

·        Shoup Paul, Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation, TV Books, New York, 1996;

·        S. Woodward, Balkan Tragedy, Brookings, 1995;

·        Ramet Sabrina Petra, Nationalism and Federalism in Yugoslavia 1962-1992, II Ed. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1992;

·        Reneo Lukic & Allen Lynch; Europe from the Balkans to the Urals. The Disintegration of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, Oxford UP, 1996;.

 

 

8 class

Establishing democracy in ECE through the market

·        Minton S. Goldmann, Revolution and Change in Central and Eastern Europe. Political, Economic and Social Challenges, Sharp, 1997;

·        Marie Lavigne, The Economies of Transition. From Socialist Economy to Market Economy, St. Martins' Press, 1995/00;

·        Mario Nuti, Milica Uvalic (eds.), Post-communist Transition to a Market Economy. Lessons and challenges, Longo Editore Ravenna, 2003

 

 

 

9 class

Constitutional reforms, political transformations and party systems in ECE

·        Tomas Kostelecky, Political Parties after Communism. Development in East-Central Europe, John's Hopkins UP, 2002;

·        Jean Blondel and Ferdinand Mueller Rommel (Eds.), Cabinets in Eastern Europe, Palgrave, 2001 Herbert Kitschelt, Zdeneka Mansfeldova, Radoslav Markowski, Gabor Toka, Post Communist Party System. Competition, Representation and Interparty co-operation, Cambridge UP, 1999

·        Geoffrey Pridham and Paul G. Lewis (eds.) Stabilising Fragile Democracies. Comparing New Party Systems in Southern and Eastern Europe, Routledge, London-New York, 1996;

·        Zdenek Suda, Jiri Musil (eds.), The meaning of Liberalism – East and West, CEU Press, Budapest, 2000,

·        Anna Krasteva, Francesco Privitera (eds.) Democratization in Post-communist Transition Processes in the 1990s. Lights and Shadows, Longo Editore, Ravenna, 2006

 

10, class

In search of identities, ECE societies and the legacy of the past

·        John Keane (ed.), Civil Society and the State. New European Perspectives, Univ. of Westminster, 1988;

·        Maria Todorova, Imagining the Balkans, Oxford UP, 1997;

·        Michael D. Kennedy, Cultural Formations of Post-Communism. Emancipation, Transition, Nation, and War, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis-London, 2002

 

11 class

 

Enlarging eastwards, EU conditionality and the stabilization of political dynamics in ECE

·        Ben Rosamond, Theories of European Integration, Palgrave 2000;

·        Stuart Croft et al., The Enlargement of Europe, Manchester UP, 1999;

·        Heather Grabbe & Kisrty Hughes, Enlarging the EU Eastwards, Chatham House Papers, 1998;

·        Karen Henderson (ed.), Back to Europe. Central and Eastern Europe and the European Union,

UCL Press, 1999;

 

 

12 class

USA, Russia and the EU and the new geopolitics of Europe

·        Burg Steven, War or Peace? Nationalism, Democracy and American Foreign Policy in Post-Communist Europe, New York University Press, New York, 1996;

·        Stefano Bianchini, Robert C. Nation, The Yugoslav Conflict and Its Implications for International Relations, Longo Editore, Ravenna, 1998;

·        Mario Zucconi (ed.), Post Communist Transition in Europe and its broader International Implications, Longo Editore, Ravenna, 2004;

 

13 class

Negotiating EU integration: ECE and EU looking for compromises

S.Bianchini, G. Schoepflin, P. Shoup (Eds.), Post-Communist Transition as a European Problem, Longo Editore, Ravenna, 2002;

 

14, class

Regionalism and devolution in ECE and the relationship between the State and the Nation

Hugh Poulton, The Balkans. Minorities and States in Conflict, Minority Rights Group, London, 1994

 

15 class

At the eve of the enlargement and the big bang

Katherine Verdery, The Vanishing Hectare, Property and Value in Post-socialist Transylvania, Cornell UniPress, Itaha-London, 2003

Stefano Bianchini, George Schopflin, Paul Shoup (eds.) Post-Communist Transition as a European Problem, Longo Editore, Ravenna, 2002

 

16 class

Transnationalism, supranationalism and sovereignity the dilemmas of the enlarged Europe

 

17 class

The Western Balkans and the contradictions of the EU

Eric D. Gordy, The Culture of Power in Serbia. Nationalism and the Destruction of Alternatives, The Pennsylvania State UniPress, 1999

Stuart J. Kaufman, Modern Hatreds. The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War, Cornell UniPres, Itaha-London, 2001;

Dusan Janjic, Ylber Hysa (eds.), Kosovo: Independence, Status, Perspectives. Adjusting Regional Policies of Ethnicity and Borders, Longo Editore, Ravenna, 2011;

Bozidar Cerovic, Milica Uvalic (eds.), Western Balkans' Accession to the European Union. Political and Economic Challenges, Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade – Publishing Centre, 2010;

Eldar Sarjlic, Davor Marko (eds.), State or Nation? The Challenges of Political Transition in Bosnia and Herzegovina, CIPS, Darajevo 2011

 

18 class

The new neighbours and EU policies eastwards

Geostrategies of the European Neighbourhood Policy, by Christopher S. Browning and Pertti Joenniemi, in European Journal of International Relations; http://ejt.sagepub.com/content/14/3/519;

European Neighbourhood Policy: Strategy or Placebo?, by Michael Emerson, in CEPS Working Document; http://www.ceps.be;

A governance perspective on the European neighbourhood policy: integration beyond conditionality?, by Sandra Lavenex, in Journal of European Public Policy; http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals,

Developing the Alternative to Enlargement: The European Neighbourhood Policy, by Roland Dannreuther, in European Foreign Affairs Review; http://studium.unict.it/dokeos/2011/courses/1001283C0/document/dannreuther2006.pdf.

 

19 class

Who is afraid for the enlargements: the enlargement fatigue

·        Boeri, Bertola Brucker et al., Who's afraid of the Big Enlargement? Economic and Social Implications of the European Union's Perspective Eastward Expansion, CEPR Policy Paper n.7, available in http://cepr.org.uk

·        Leonidas Donskins, Ineta Dabasinskiene, European Memory, A Blessing or a Curse?, Longo Editore, Ravenna, 2010

 

20 class

Redefining Europe, the EU project and the Global financial crisis

·        Elizabeth Pond, The Rebirth of Europe, Brookings Institution Press, 1999;

Michael Heffernan, The Meaning of Europe. Geography and Geopolitics, Arnold 1998

 

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

Suggested readings as course textbooks:

Leslie Holmes, Post-Communism an Introduction (1997), Duke University Press, Durham;

Stephen White, Pail G. Lewis & Judy Batt (eds.), Developments in Central and East European Politics, n.4 (2007), n.5 (2013), Palgrave, Mac Millan;

Larry Wolff, Inventing Eastern Europe. The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment, (1997), Stanford University Press

The reading list will be updated before the beginning of the lessons

Political History

 

·         Robin Okey, The Demise of Communist East Europe . 1989 in Context , Arnold , London , 2003;

·         S.J. Ball, The Cold War. An International History 1947-1991 , Arnold, 1998;

·         Geoffrey Swaine & Neigel Swaine, Eastern Europesince 1945, St.Martins' Press, 1998;

·         Ivan T. Berend, Central and Eastern Europe 1944-1993. Detour from the Periphery to the Periphery, Cambridge UP, 1998;

·         Norman Neimark and Leonid Gibianskii (Eds.), The Establishment of Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe, 1944-1949, Westviev Press 1997;

·         John Lewis Gaddis, We know now. Rethinking Cold War History, Oxford UniPress, 1997;

·         Lannie P. Johnson, Enemies, Neighbours, Friends, Oxford UP, 1996;

·         Reneo Lukic & Allen Lynch; Europe from the Balkans to the Urals. The Disintegration of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union , Oxford UP, 1996;.

·         Francois Frejto, Histoire des Democratie Populaires, Ed. du Sevil, 1952.

 

 

Yugoslavia

 

·         Florian Bieber and Carsten Wieland (eds.), Facing the Past facing the Future: confronting Ethnicity and Conflict in Bosnia and former Yugoslavia , Longo editore Ravenna , 2005;

·         J. B. Allcock, Explaining Yugoslavia , Columbia UniPress, 2000;

·         Popov Neboisa (ed.), The Road to War in Serbia , Central European Unibersity Press, Budapest , 2000;

·         Burg Steven e Paul Shoup, The War in Bosnia-Herzegovina, M.E. Sharpe, Inc., New York , 1999;

·         Baruch Watchel Andrew, Making a Nation, Breaking a Nation, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1998;

·         Dusan Janjic (ed.), Ethnic Conflicts and their Managements. The Case of Yugoslavia , Longo Editore, Ravenna , 1997;

·         Lampe John , Yugoslavia as History: Twice There Was a Country , Cambridge , Eng. , 1996

·         Shoup Paul , Yugoslavia : Death of a Nation , TV Books, New York , 1996;

·         S. Woodward, Balkan Tragedy, Brookings, 1995;

·         Ramet Sabrina Petra, Nationalism and Federalism in Yugoslavia 1962-1992, II Ed. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1992;

·         Djilas Aleksa, The Contested Country: Yugoslav Unity and Communist Revolution, 1919-1953 Harvard University Press, Cambridge , Mass. , 1991.

 

 

Post-Communism

 

·         Stephen White, Judy Batt and Paul G. Lewis (eds.), Developments in Central and East European Politics, Palgrave, 2003;

·         Tomas Kostelecky, Political Parties after Communism. Development in East-Central Europe, John's Hopkins UP, 2002;

·         Jean Blondel and Ferdinand Mueller Rommel (Eds.), Cabinets in Eastern Europe , Palgrave, 2001;

·         Ben Fowkes, The Post-Communist Era. Change and Continuity in Eastern Europe , MacMillan, 1999;

·         Herbert Kitschelt, Zdeneka Mansfeldova, Radoslav Markowski, Gabor Toka, Post Communist Party System. Competition, Representation and Interparty co-operation, Cambridge UP, 1999;

·         Leslie Holmes, Post-Communism: An Introduction, Cambridge , Polity Press, 1998;

·         Stefano Bianchini, George Schöpflin (eds.), State Buildingin the Balkans. Dilemmas on the Eve of the 21st Century , Longo Editore, Ravenna , 1998.

·         Minton S. Goldmann, Revolution and Change in Central and Eastern Europe . Political, Economic and Social Challenges , Sharp, 1997;

·         Geoffrey Pridham and Paul G. Lewis (eds.) Stabilising Fragile Democracies. Comparing New Party Systems in Southern and Eastern Europe , Routledge, London - New York , 1996;

·         Newman Saul, Ethnoregional Conflict in Democracies: Mostly Ballots, Rarely Bullets, Greenwood Press, Westport , C.T., 1996;

·         Burg Steven, War or Peace? Nationalism, Democracy and American Foreign Policyin Post-Communist Europe , New York University Press, New York , 1996;

·         Marie Lavigne, The Economies of Transition. From Socialist Economy to Market Economy, St. Martins' Press, 1995/00;

 

 

European Integration

 

·         S.Bianchini, G. Schoepflin, P. Shoup (Eds.), Post-Communist Transition as a European Problem, Longo Editore, Ravenna , 2002;

·         Ben Rosamond, Theories of European Integration, Palgrave 2000;

·         Elizabeth Pond, The Rebirth of Europe , Brookings Institution Press, 1999;

·         Karen Henderson (ed.), Back to Europe . Central and Eastern Europe and the European Union , UCL Press, 1999;

·         Stuart Croft et al., The Enlargement of Europe , Manchester UP, 1999;

·         Michael Heffernan, The Meaning of Europe . Geography and Geopolitics , Arnold 1998;

·         Heather Grabbe & Kisrty Hughes, Enlarging the EU Eastwards, Chatham House Papers, 1998;

·         John Keane (ed.), Civil Society and the State. New European Perspectives, Univ. of Westminster , 1988;

·         Maria Todorova, Imagining the Balkans, Oxford UP, 1997;

·        Boeri, Bertola Brucker et al., Who's afraid of the Big Enlargement? Economic and Social Implications of the European Union's Perspective Eastward Expansion, CEPR Policy Paper n.7, available in http://cepr.org.uk

Teaching methods

 A seminar approach, involving students into discussions and comments

Assessment methods

ATTENDANCE IS COMPULSORY TO ALL THE STUDENTS
Assessment methods will be introduced to the students during the first indroductory and methodological class

Office hours

See the website of Francesco Privitera