Dr Chris Rumford, Senior Lecturer in Political Sociology, Royal Holloway, University of London

| home | publications | books reviewed |
Europe Without Borders
Mabel Berezin and Martin Schain (eds) (2004) (Johns Hopkins University Press)

The territorial or spatial dimensions of European integration are not well covered in the EU studies literature and this book is a welcome addition to an emerging field. The theme of this edited collection of eleven essays is reflected in the book's subtitle: the relation between territory, citizenship and identity. Despite the title however the book does not concern itself with borders to any great extent, which is a shame as the construction of Europe's borders is arguably the most significant dimension of European territoriality.The relationship between territory and identity are explored most interestingly in the chapters by Kumar, Entrikin, and Brenner. Krishan Kumar, in his discussion of European identity, makes the point that transnationalism is not new: Europe has always been a transnational space and has long depended upon interaction between Europeans and those beyond. Nicholas Entrikin adds a valuable cosmopolitan dimension, and looks at the way in which the European Union is concerned to construct a single, homogenous European space which both increases mobility within Europe and opens up Europeans to a wider world community. Neil Brenner's densely argued chapter is concerned with the rescaling of state space in Europe, particularly as it affects urban governance. Cities and regions became orientated towards European and global circuits of capital as Keynesian planning gave way to neo-liberalism through the 1980s. More recently, and in light of the uneven territorial development produced by earlier regimes, there has been a shift towards new forms of governance designed to better manage unbalanced growth.Overall, the editors display a rather conservative approach to the subject, interpreting the spatial recalibration of Europe in terms of a reorganization of existing spaces: discussion of the novelty of European space, particularly in the light of the contradictory impact of globalization on Europe's cities, regions, nation-states, trans-border networks, for example, is largely absent.

back to books reviewed