*** JACQUES PALARD, ALAIN-G. GAGNON, BERNARD GAGNON (Eds.): Diversité et identités au Québec et dans les régions d'Europe. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes - Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. Email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.net ) and Les Presses de l'Université Laval. "Régionalisme et fédéralisme" series, No. 9. 2006, 417 pp, €37-80. ISBN 90-5201-331-4 and 2-7637-8215-9.
This collection of essays by leading representatives of academia in Canada and Europe answers questions on the future of federalism in Canada and in the Europe of the regions. Are states that are aware of their regional identities more tolerant of cultural diversity? What is the cultural, institutional and social dynamic that makes it possible (or impossible) to marry pluralism with national or regional identities in Canada and the EU? The authors study political and institutional answers (power, institutions and legal systems) to these questions as a response to diversity in regional contexts and the social and cultural challenges (immigration, education and changes in identity) that arise from increasing complexity in cultural and social reference points. The essays make one think, suggest Bernard Gagnon (Professor in Ethics at Quebec University) and Jacques Palard (Research Director at CNRS in France, at the 'Institut d'études politiques' in Bordeaux), that "the identity relations between nation and diversity, although not entirely trouble-free, can lead to original models for managing diversity, with an inclusive, integrating view of belonging". They add that the eaceful cohabitation of many diverse identities is brought about in part by regional experiences where the preserving of national specificity includes openness to cultural differentiation in the various dimensions of public life.
In the first part of the book, looking at political systems that encourage interaction among national identities and cultural pluralism, two essays look at regional issues in Europe. Regional Studies Professor at Aberdeen University in Scotland and Professor of Scottish Politics at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, Michael Keating starts by discussing the diverse range of existing links between minority nationalities and the European project. Whether or not the European project helps transform the state and lead to its decline or whether it is an unknown process of building a new political order, it does undermine the traditional links between 'sovereignty, territory, nationality and function that were pillars of the traditional nation state model'. Why? Firstly because the EU has shaken up the traditional doctrine of a united, exclusive state sovereignty. Next, because the European project has monopolised states' powers in the field of market regulation and union and even domestic and foreign security, thereby favouring moves in the direction of new forms of the exercise of power, paving the way for new configurations of how autonomy is exercised. Moreover, the European project has raised the stakes of democracy to the level of a debate about a pluralist order over and above - and through - the nation state. They add that for the very first time, the EU has separated human rights from nationality and citizenship. These changes, continues Michael Keating, have encouraged people to seek new forms of autonomy and new arrangements between nationality and authority. For a large number of movements representing 'nations without a state', Europe provided an opportunity to drop traditional demands for their own sovereign state and take up a post-sovereignty position, or calling for shared sovereignty and powers. Not to mention the fact that the European project also favours the de-ethnicising of nationalist projects, and their replacement with territorial civic programmes, marginalising the separatist option and introducing multi-level policies into the game - although far right movements and other racist parties continue to exist but with an anti-EU discourse. Based on his descriptions of this situation, Michael Keating examines the tangible opportunities, other than independence, provided by the EU to meet the demands of national minorities. He concludes that a gradual change has enabled the EU and nationalities to evolve side-by-side and together explore new forms of political authority but also that an attempt to decide the 'status, categories and powers of the various levels of Europe - minority, region, state and European Union - runs the risk of recreating the type of institutional maladjustment that caused problems in the past'.
This study is rounded off by an equally interesting essay by Nicolas Levrat on the potential construction of a European identity and how the integration process impacts on the very nature of regional identity in Europe. Professor at the Law Faculty of Geneva University in Switzerland, Levrat observes that there has not been an emergence of a common regional European identity and that while European regional policy can generate fondness for Europe in the regions, that does not mean that it necessarily reinforces regional identity. The only significant identity element perceived by Nicolas Levrat in regional policy is the fact it acts as an incentive for many local and regional leaders to take an interest in Europe, so that regional policy mechanisms act as powerful vectors of belonging to Brussels-based Europe. He adds, however, that while the EU Structural Funds and their management may be designed as identity vectors, people in Brussels are unfortunately not as sensitive to the same feeling of attraction to them, with the only positive outcome of the European project in this connection at the end of the day being that it has had the effect of encouraging open regional identities, as opposed to nationalist-type identity registers.
Michel Theys
*** JOSEFINA SYSSNER: What Kind of Regionalism? Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - Email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.de ). 2006, 244 pp, €39-70. ISBN 3-631-55201-7.
Regionalist movements are experiencing a renaissance in Europe, and the regions are often described as the best level of power to be used to influence local economies and also the level of power with which citizens can best identify and most easily interact. As Josefina Syssner explains: "We may experience a time when regions are both built in a strict or formal sense and when existing regions are reinvented and filled with new meaning". However, regionalisms are not identical and there are huge differences among different regions, whether in terms of legal status or the level of autonomy enjoyed or demanded. Books on regionalism often approach the issue by looking at regional movements which arose from a strong ethnic or cultural sense of identity, usually described as 'old regionalism', or movements developing in the rich parts of countries that want to promote their own interests, described as 'new regionalism'. Josefina Syssner has chosen a different approach, aiming to determine the type of regionalism developing in more deprived political regions without any particular ethnic characteristics, and what lies behind such developments. With this in mind, she selected the region she herself was born in, Norrbotten in Sweden, and Mecklemburg-Eastern Pomerania in Eastern Germany, two relatively rural regions on the sidelines of economic and political life. Her aim is to understand what regionalism is based upon and also to capture its very essence. She says the concept can be understood as a political ideology: 'I use the concept of ideology to describe a political belief-system, shared by a group of people'. She demonstrates through a study of policies and political discourse in these regions, for example, that regionalism, a phenomenon imbued with 'Romantic' and 'civic' traits, amounts to more than just demands for autonomy and greater recognition.
(FRo)
*** KLAUS H. GOETZ: Territory, Temporality and Clustered Europeanization. Institut für Höhere Studien - Institute for Advanced Studies. (56 Stumpergasse, A-1060 Vienna, Austria. Tel (43-1) 59991-0 - Fax: 59991-555 - Internet: http://www.ihs.ac.at ). "Reihe Politikwissenschaft - Political Science Series", No. 109. 2006, 19 pp, €6 (individuals), €20 (institutions).
The failure of EU Member States to converge, despite the huge number of directives to foster integration, has eventually been generally accepted in debate surrounding the European project. Existing literature on the subject talks about 'differential responses' to EU policies, pointing out that while political and administrative systems adapt so that Europeanisation has a huge impact, unity among such systems will not materialise in the near future. Political styles and structures, in particular, continue to diverge. This study challenges this insistence on non-convergence, putting forward the idea of 'Europeanisation in groups', in other words, the existence of groups of countries characterised by a high degree of similarity at the intra-regional level, with differences in the way the regions are Europeanised. He argues that such groups could be fostered by two factors neglected by researchers in the past, namely territory and temporality. Territory influences Europeanisation through 'families of nations' (northern and southern countries, for example) and centre-periphery structures. Temporality refers to when countries joined the EU, connected with the economic and political development of the country and the phase of European integration. Economic and political development and families of nations would tend to promote intra-regional similarities, he explains, whereas the other two elements highlight inter-regional differences in the European project. The author argues that systematic study of territory and temporality makes it clear that there is nothing haphazard about the distribution of levels of integration in the EU, backing the idea of Europeanisation in groups.
(NDu)
*** VANESSA BASSO: Der Einfluss des zentralistischen Staatssystems Italiens und seiner Regionalpolitik auf die Wirtschaftsentwicklung im Mezzogiorno unter Einbezug der europäischen Strukturfondsmittel 1994-1999. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Europäische Hochschulschriften - Publications Universitaires Européennes - European University Studies", No. 520, 290 pp. ISBN 3-03910-786-0.
For many years now, serious effort has been focussed on breathing new life into the economy of various regions of Italy, especially the Mezzogiorno in the south, through investment by the Italian state and the European Structural Funds. While progress has been seen in some regions, the situation has actually deteriorated in other regions. This book studies the impact of the European Structural Funds in Italy and alongside economic aspects, it examines social and political factors which have had a considerable influence on economic development in the Mezzogiorno. Following the introduction of similar funding mechanisms, why is it that some regions are experiencing economic growth while others are stagnating? Can the effectiveness of European funding be put down to particular systems of government and if so, why? How does the state system mesh with economic development and social issues? These are some of the questions the author attempts to answer in her book, providing a provocative and very useful explanation of the often turbulent way EU policies interact with existing structures in the Mezzogiorno. It would, however, be rather audacious to attempt to extrapolate the lessons drawn here because of the special nature of the socio-political fabric of the Mezzogiorno - there are more references to the Mafia in the index than to the European Union and the European Commission combined…
(CDi)
*** Annuaire 2007. Association Française du Conseil des Communes et Régions d'Europe (30 rue d'Alsace-Lorraine, F-45000 Orléans. Tel: (33-2) 38778383 - Fax: 38772103 - Email: ccrefrance@afccre.org - Internet: http://www.afccre.org ). 2006, 671 pp, €80.
The third edition of the yearbook of the French association of European regions and communities describes the 2000 or so local territorial units - communities and groups of communities, general councils and regional councils - that belong to the association in question. The book gives the names of more than 10,000 elected officials and civil servants with responsibility for European affairs, details of European and international twinning and partnerships and local authority websites.
(PBo)
*** JEAN-MARIE CAVADA: Une marche dans le siècle. Calmann-Lévy (31 rue de Fleuris, Paris). 2006, 276 pp, €19-05. ISBN 2-7021-3694-X.
Autobiographies can at times be little more than vehicles for gushing vanity, ego and desire for recognition, but not this example. It is a fine book, impregnated with sincerity and genuine modesty and strong beliefs is the story of one man's journey. And an extraordinary journey it is too. Jean-Marie Cavada was one of the most emblematic figureheads in French broadcasting and French language broadcasting in general, with programmes which became legendary, and the most prestigious management positions, most in the public eye, on French public service broadcasting. A fairytale? Yes and no. Cavada never knew his parents, being brought up by social work institutions and foster parents. His luck can therefore be put down to his ability to get down to hard work - an ability which he has not lost over the years - which enabled him to do well at school, and he pays sustained tribute to the French education system. The book will be a delight to anyone who knows a little about the world of journalism. Writing about one of his great programmes, Cavada says it provided proof that even when it comes to issues like audience numbers and quantitative criteria, quality pays off and there is no need to constantly descend to the lowest level to get higher audience ratings. It would be wonderful if a series of television channels were constantly reminded of this precious fact …
(MT)