Nicole Lindstrom | University of York (original) (raw)
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Papers by Nicole Lindstrom
The Geopolitics of Europe's Identity
... its battlements," Croatia was perceived to have sacrificed generations of its ci... more ... its battlements," Croatia was perceived to have sacrificed generations of its citizens to guard ... when Slovenia was invited to enter EU membership negotiations, Slovenia was recognized as " European ... by Tudman in the 1990s ulti-mately contributed to Croatia being (re) assigned ...
Transnational and nonstate actors have exerted a pervasive influence on postcommunist transitions... more Transnational and nonstate actors have exerted a pervasive influence on postcommunist transitions in Central and East Europe. No aspect of politics has been untouched. To start with, transnational actors, including international governmental and nongovernmental organizations, corporations, foundations, and activist networks, have played a key role in processes of democratization in postcommunist Europe. When Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the Orange Revolution in Ukraine was fomented by outside forces, he appealed to xenophobic impulses and underestimated the domestic sources of protest. Yet no one could suggest that he was entirely wrong. In fact, a diverse mix of transnational actors was deeply involved, including United States aid agencies, the European Union (EU), and election observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The same could be said of the Rose Revolution in Georgia and the popular uprising in Kyrgyzstan that ousted President
Many theoretical approaches to Europeanization of EU applicant states portray the process as top-... more Many theoretical approaches to Europeanization of EU applicant states portray the process as top-down: governing elites in applicant states conform to EU conditions, constituents provide a permissive consensus, and all applicant states converge toward a single EU model. Such approaches direct less attention to how Europeanization is a dynamic, contradictory, and contestable process. This case study considers how common pressures of Europeanization both constrain and enable domestic politics in particular domestic fields. We focus on two sites of Europeanization in Slovenia: political debates surrounding the restructuring of the Slovenian banking sector and political turmoil over the sale of Slovenian breweries to foreign investors. In both cases domestic societal actors managed to hinder, and in one case halt, the full-scale liberalization and privatization of the Slovenian economy. These actors not only appealed to national interests, namely the preservation of Slovenia’s gradualis...
This chapter examines the emergence of new patterns of contention around the EU as post-socialist... more This chapter examines the emergence of new patterns of contention around the EU as post-socialist states entered formal EU accession negotiations and the attention shifted from a ‘return to Europe’ to ‘joining the EU’. Challenging accounts of the EU accession process as a largely technocratic process, this chapter argues for a more political and social understanding of this process. Tracing political debates over EU conditions in core EU policy areas (trade and competition policy), the chapter shows how ‘architects of transition’ in Estonia and Slovenia contested EU conditions when they were deemed to conflict with particular national welfare capitalist paths.
PROKLA. Zeitschrift für kritische Sozialwissenschaft, 2002
The paper starts with an overview of competing theoretical approaches to understanding Europeaniz... more The paper starts with an overview of competing theoretical approaches to understanding Europeanization of Central and East European applicant states. lt is suggested that instead of seeing the process as strictly "top-down," we must investigate the ways in which the common pressures and constraints of Europeanization are processed and responded to in particular local contexts. In the main section the paper is focussed on the case of Slovenia in order to examine how common pressures impinge upon, challenge or reinforce national 'models' and practices, in particular two "sites of Europeanization" are examined: the restructuring of the Slovenian banking sector and recent political turmoil around the privatization of a local Slovene brewery. The authors suggest through these cases how the process of Europeanization operates not only in the political sphere, but also involves contentious debates in the public sphere.
Problems of Post-Communism, 2004
Trafficking is an economic and human rights issue that calls for a regional solution.
Post-Communist Welfare Pathways, 2009
When Vladimir Putin claimed “outside forces” were at work during the Ukrainian Orange Revolution ... more When Vladimir Putin claimed “outside forces” were at work during the Ukrainian Orange Revolution of 2004, it was not just a case of paranoia. In this uprising against election fraud, protesters had been trained in political organization and nonviolent resistance by a Western-financed democracy building coalition. Putin's accusations were more than just a call to xenophobic impulses-they were a testament to the pervasive influence of transnational actors in the shaping of postcommunist countries. Despite this, the role of transnational ...
European Journal of Sociology, 2015
The paper considers the impact of the current economic crisis on post-socialist welfare capitalis... more The paper considers the impact of the current economic crisis on post-socialist welfare capitalist states through an examination of two most different cases: neo-liberal Estonia and neo-corporatist Slovenia. The crisis prompted the most sustained political contestation with respect to each model in two decades. Considering national public sphere discussions within a broader European context, the paper shows how transnational advocates of austerity reinforced Estonia’s neoliberal model but emboldened critics of the Slovenian model to roll back the state. While public sphere debates within small, peripheral states must be understood within transnational contexts, in both cases we can observe more continuity than change in the collective ideas underlying each model.
The Geopolitics of Europe's Identity
... its battlements," Croatia was perceived to have sacrificed generations of its ci... more ... its battlements," Croatia was perceived to have sacrificed generations of its citizens to guard ... when Slovenia was invited to enter EU membership negotiations, Slovenia was recognized as " European ... by Tudman in the 1990s ulti-mately contributed to Croatia being (re) assigned ...
Transnational and nonstate actors have exerted a pervasive influence on postcommunist transitions... more Transnational and nonstate actors have exerted a pervasive influence on postcommunist transitions in Central and East Europe. No aspect of politics has been untouched. To start with, transnational actors, including international governmental and nongovernmental organizations, corporations, foundations, and activist networks, have played a key role in processes of democratization in postcommunist Europe. When Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the Orange Revolution in Ukraine was fomented by outside forces, he appealed to xenophobic impulses and underestimated the domestic sources of protest. Yet no one could suggest that he was entirely wrong. In fact, a diverse mix of transnational actors was deeply involved, including United States aid agencies, the European Union (EU), and election observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The same could be said of the Rose Revolution in Georgia and the popular uprising in Kyrgyzstan that ousted President
Many theoretical approaches to Europeanization of EU applicant states portray the process as top-... more Many theoretical approaches to Europeanization of EU applicant states portray the process as top-down: governing elites in applicant states conform to EU conditions, constituents provide a permissive consensus, and all applicant states converge toward a single EU model. Such approaches direct less attention to how Europeanization is a dynamic, contradictory, and contestable process. This case study considers how common pressures of Europeanization both constrain and enable domestic politics in particular domestic fields. We focus on two sites of Europeanization in Slovenia: political debates surrounding the restructuring of the Slovenian banking sector and political turmoil over the sale of Slovenian breweries to foreign investors. In both cases domestic societal actors managed to hinder, and in one case halt, the full-scale liberalization and privatization of the Slovenian economy. These actors not only appealed to national interests, namely the preservation of Slovenia’s gradualis...
This chapter examines the emergence of new patterns of contention around the EU as post-socialist... more This chapter examines the emergence of new patterns of contention around the EU as post-socialist states entered formal EU accession negotiations and the attention shifted from a ‘return to Europe’ to ‘joining the EU’. Challenging accounts of the EU accession process as a largely technocratic process, this chapter argues for a more political and social understanding of this process. Tracing political debates over EU conditions in core EU policy areas (trade and competition policy), the chapter shows how ‘architects of transition’ in Estonia and Slovenia contested EU conditions when they were deemed to conflict with particular national welfare capitalist paths.
PROKLA. Zeitschrift für kritische Sozialwissenschaft, 2002
The paper starts with an overview of competing theoretical approaches to understanding Europeaniz... more The paper starts with an overview of competing theoretical approaches to understanding Europeanization of Central and East European applicant states. lt is suggested that instead of seeing the process as strictly "top-down," we must investigate the ways in which the common pressures and constraints of Europeanization are processed and responded to in particular local contexts. In the main section the paper is focussed on the case of Slovenia in order to examine how common pressures impinge upon, challenge or reinforce national 'models' and practices, in particular two "sites of Europeanization" are examined: the restructuring of the Slovenian banking sector and recent political turmoil around the privatization of a local Slovene brewery. The authors suggest through these cases how the process of Europeanization operates not only in the political sphere, but also involves contentious debates in the public sphere.
Problems of Post-Communism, 2004
Trafficking is an economic and human rights issue that calls for a regional solution.
Post-Communist Welfare Pathways, 2009
When Vladimir Putin claimed “outside forces” were at work during the Ukrainian Orange Revolution ... more When Vladimir Putin claimed “outside forces” were at work during the Ukrainian Orange Revolution of 2004, it was not just a case of paranoia. In this uprising against election fraud, protesters had been trained in political organization and nonviolent resistance by a Western-financed democracy building coalition. Putin's accusations were more than just a call to xenophobic impulses-they were a testament to the pervasive influence of transnational actors in the shaping of postcommunist countries. Despite this, the role of transnational ...
European Journal of Sociology, 2015
The paper considers the impact of the current economic crisis on post-socialist welfare capitalis... more The paper considers the impact of the current economic crisis on post-socialist welfare capitalist states through an examination of two most different cases: neo-liberal Estonia and neo-corporatist Slovenia. The crisis prompted the most sustained political contestation with respect to each model in two decades. Considering national public sphere discussions within a broader European context, the paper shows how transnational advocates of austerity reinforced Estonia’s neoliberal model but emboldened critics of the Slovenian model to roll back the state. While public sphere debates within small, peripheral states must be understood within transnational contexts, in both cases we can observe more continuity than change in the collective ideas underlying each model.