This course takes an inside-out approach to the study of the EU’s relations with, policies towards, and relevance for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The latter is conceived broadly to include those countries in the region that are already EU member states (Visegrad Group, the Baltic states, Croatia and Slovenia), the six accession states in the Western Balkans, and the six neighbourhood countries of the Eastern Partnership. Once all members of the ‘communist camp’, these countries have followed distinct trajectories over the past 30 years and constitute an extremely diverse cohort. The inside-out approach of the course rests in reversing the gaze from the usual EU-centric take on “EU transformative power” to bringing in, and indeed departing from, the politics, perspectives, narratives, and histories of these countries. The course addresses, among others, issues such as post-communist transformation and regime change, democratization and marketization, nationalism and historic memory & trauma, populism and authoritarianism, national and European culture & identity, belonging and non-belonging.
