A Ruined Fortress?

Neoliberal Hegemony and Transformation in Europe

Edited by Alan W. Cafruny, Magnus Ryner

Not available to order

Publication date:

14 July 2003

Length of book:

336 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9780742511415

This challenging book argues convincingly that research on European integration has lagged behind important theoretical developments in the fields of international relations, international political economy, and international organization. The contributors contend that prevailing theories of integration—despite their considerable differences—all suffer from an excessive focus on institutions and ideas, while overlooking the ways in which these institutions and ideas have promoted a neoliberal agenda during the last decade. To overcome these weaknesses, this volume draws on one of the key strands of theoretical innovation—critical political economy or transnational historical materialism—to develop a more comprehensive and consistent analysis of processes of European integration. Although not claiming that states have ceded their role as "masters of the treaties," the contributors develop innovative case studies of national and transnational processes to illustrate the salience of trans-European business networks and the primacy of neoliberalism as central organizing concepts of the post-Maastricht European project.

Contributions by: Baastian van Apeldoorn, Hans-Jürgen Bieling, Alan W. Cafruny, Ben Clift, Stephen Gill, Colin Hay, Otto Holman, Henk Overbeek, Kees van der Pijl, Magnus Ryner, Thorsten Schulten, Giles Scott-Smith, Leila Simona Talani, and Matthew Watson.

Introduction: The Study of European Integration in the Neoliberal Era
Alan W. Cafruny and Magnus Ryner
Part I: The European Union and Neoliberal Hegemony
Chapter 1: Theories of European Integration: A Critique
Bastiaan van Appeldoorn, Henk Overbeek, and Magnus Ryner
Chapter 2: A Neo-Gramscian Approach to European Integration
Stephen Gill
Chapter 3: Structure and Process in Transnational European Business
Otto Holman and Kees van der Pijl
Chapter 4: The Geopolitics of U.S. Hegemony in Europe: From the Breakup of Yugoslavia to the War in Iraq
Alan W. Cafruny
Part II: Neoliberal Hegemony and the State
Chapter 5: The Political Economy of Exchange Rate Commitments: Italy, the United Kingdom, and the Process of European Monetary Integration
Leila Simona Talani
Chapter 6: Diminishing Expectations: The Strategic Discourse of Globalization in the Political Economy of New Labour
Colin Hay and Matthew Watson
Chapter 7: The Changing Political Economy of France: Dirigisme Under Duress
Ben Clift
Chapter 8: Disciplinary Neoliberalism, Regionalization, and the Social Market in German Restructuring
Magnus Ryner
Part III: The European Union beyond Neoliberalism?
Chapter 9: "Competitive Restructuring" and Industrial Relations within the European Union: Corporatist Involvement and Beyond
Hans-Jürgen Bieling and Thorsten Schulten
Chapter 10: Cultural Policy and Citizenship in the European Union: An Answer to the Legitimation Problem?
Giles Scott-Smith
Chapter 11: Europe, the United States, and Neoliberal (Dis)Order: Is There a Coming Crisis of the Euro?
Alan W. Cafruny

Theoretically ambitious and innovative, this absolutely first-rate volume opens fresh ways of thinking and will serve equally well both specialists and students.