Neil Fligstein: Euroclash: The EU, European Identity, and the Future of Europe, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, 296 pp., £25.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-19-954256-7
Fligstein's Euroclash: The EU, European Identity, and the Future of Europe offers a lucid account of the formation of the European Union (chapter 2), processes of economic transformation in Europe (chapter 3), and the structure of European politics (chapter 7). These topics lie at the heart of any European Studies curriculum. The advanced student may thus be forgiven to suspect yet another textbook on European integration: more of the same – possibly in other words and marketed by a provocative book title. However, Fligstein's Euroclash goes beyond the standard canon of European Studies. It manages to combine a review of important cultural, economic, institutional, and political developments with a more sociological outlook. In doing so, the book addresses two crucial questions: who are the Europeans? And what is European society?
Who then are the Europeans? Chapter 5 takes this question head on. Based on an array of statistical data, Fligstein finds little evidence of a genuinely European collective identity amongst the vast majority of contemporary Europeans. Very few people in Europe routinely interact with people from other European countries. Others do not entertain any interpersonal relationships across national borders – neither for business nor for leisure. In this scenario, the European middle classes emerge as a critical ‘swing group’ who can draw on a volatile patchwork of experiences in both national and European fields (e.g., cultural, economic, political).
Fligstein also deals with notions of multiple identities, showing how – depending on different situations – these can be reconcilable rather than mutually exclusive. The respective discussion touches on important debates, but remains surprisingly succinct. Then again, the core of Fligstein's engagement with European forms of identity centres on issues of education and social class. He convincingly argues that the educated, the wealthy, managers, Euro-bureaucrats, and white-collar workers benefit most from processes of European integration. These societal groups are also most likely to entertain intercultural friendships, to invest in foreign language courses, and to travel abroad for business and/or leisure.
Fligstein's Euroclash illustrates why some Europeans appear to enjoy transnational interactions and networks, whilst others seem to prefer their national or regional comfort zones. But the book also offers valuable insights into what might be seen as constituents of a ‘European society’. Based on a competent selection of empirical data, Fligstein traces some important supranational developments in the fields of migration, civic associations, education, and European popular culture (chapter 6). In addition, he provides three intriguing case studies on emerging European markets in the defence, telecommunications, and football industries (chapter 4). Throughout, Fligstein persuasively argues that, to date, it is only a privileged minority of Europeans who really live and act within these emerging cultural, economic, and political fields.
Fligstein's Euroclash is clearly and accessibly written – free of unnecessary jargon and overly technical language. The author illustrates important cultural, economic, political, and socio-historical developments with an impressive selection of empirical data. Fligstein's contribution is particularly important in that it highlights class divisions and class-specific social mobility across Europe, and how these social inequalities hinder the prospect of a more genuinely ‘European society’. The book will appeal to educationalists, economists, historians, political scientists, sociologists, and – more generally – to all those interested in processes of European integration.
Andreas Pöllmann, University of Essex, UK