The Politics of East European Area Studies

Following the end of the Cold War and European Union enlargement, in what sense does Eastern Europe continue to exist as a meaningful geo-political concept? In addressing this question, contributors to this volumeAlex Cistelecan, Robert Bideleux, Katalin Miklssy and Dieter Segerttease out the implications for an Area Studies approach to the region. They examine its contradictory situation within discourses of orientalisation: on one hand, posited as the underdeveloped pendant to its western neighbours; on the other, largely Christian by religion and an integral part of a continent that dominated the world. They uncover the roots of area studies in the colonial paradigm by which great powers promote the creation of predictive, problem-solving knowledge that is immediately apprehendable for decision makers, helping them to take advantage of a regions resources and strategic position, but which tends to homogenise the regions geography and history. For critical inquiry, they argue, the challenge is to delineate transparently the reasons underlying Eastern Europes construction as an area of study, to identify the epistemological interests of motivated organisations such as funding agencies and political bodies, and to counter the ongoing orientalism of Western perspectives toward the East. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe.