Book Review: Cameron Ross (ed.), Systemic and Non-Systemic Opposition in the Russian Federation: Civil Society Awakens?
| Author | Scott N Romaniuk |
| Published date | 01 November 2017 |
| Date | 01 November 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1478929917719406 |
| Subject Matter | Book ReviewsEurope |
666 Political Studies Review 15(4)
As diagnosis determines prognosis, the sub-
stantially different understandings regarding
how to conceive the difficulties at hand deter-
mined what kind of measures could and should
be adopted in order to tackle them, in the end
dividing countries between proponents of aus-
terity and of stimulus (p. 153). The authors do
not limit their analysis to an extremely reduc-
tionist Franco-German cleavage but include
chapters on the Italian and Anglo-American
views as well as on the positions defended by
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and
European Central Bank (ECB) during the crisis.
Architects of the Euro is an edited volume
with chapters devoted to each of the ‘archi-
tects’ of EMU – the intellectuals who gave
shape to the actual mandate of the political
leaders, guiding the European integration pro-
cess towards the concrete agreement achieved
in Maastricht. The aim of each chapter, rather
than to describe the already well-documented
contribution of these architects to EMU, is to
dig into their intellectual biography, relying on
historical archives and interviews, in order to
find out what specific model for economic
integration lay behind their thinking.
The book reveals not only to what extent
the actual EMU conforms to the views of its
architects but also how these views differed
from each other and what essential elements for
each architect were excluded from the final com-
promise. This can be a key factor to understanding
what the main flaws in the design of EMU are.
The selection of the actual architects is bal-
anced. It includes academics, bankers and politi-
cians from the Member States as well as from the
European Commission. Apart from the most obvi-
ous names (Raymond Barre, Pierre Werner and
Jacques Delors), there are chapters devoted to
Robert Triffin, Robert Marjolin, Hans Tietmeyer,
Karl Otto Pöhl, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa and
Alexandre Lamfalussy. It is nevertheless debata-
ble whether Roy Jenkins’ contribution (his 1977
speech in Florence relaunched the political debate
on EMU) is of a magnitude comparable to the
influence of the other architects. This impression
is supported by the number of interconnections
identified between all the other architects – but not
with him.
The first book is addressed at a broad audi-
ence interested in understanding the specificities
of the Euro-crisis and the debates around how to
solve it and, in particular, why the austerity
approach was adopted. Its narrative follows the
course of events (to the point of including news-
papers and journals among its major sources)
and thus does not critically assess the causes of
the crisis in the European Union (EU).
The second book will be particularly
enjoyed by those with a previous knowledge of
the history of European integration and EMU.
It provides an extremely rich picture, confront-
ing different conceptions of economic integra-
tion with what was politically feasible at each
specific moment, summarising in a revealing
last chapter by the editors the architects’ lega-
cies and influence.
Fernando Losada
(University of Helsinki)
© The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/1478929917718668
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Systemic and Non-Systemic Opposition
in the Russian Federation: Civil Society
Awakens? by Cameron Ross (ed.). Farnham:
Ashgate, 2015. 219pp., £65.00 (h/b), ISBN
9781472435040
Civil society and non-governmental organisa-
tions (NGOs) in the Russian Federation have
been the focus of renewed assaults by Vladimir
Putin, with dozens of new laws and legislative
amendments having come into force in the past
few years alone. Those laws have significantly
narrowed the margins of civil society organisa-
tions (CSOs), and the freedoms and human
rights of Russia’s citizens and activists alike.
However, scholars have observed a fascinating
wave of civil activism within the Russian
Federation between December 2011 and July
2013 following in the wake of the ‘Arab
Spring’ that led to the downfall of dictatorial
regimes in the Middle East and North Africa.
Systemic and Non-Systemic Opposition in
the Russian Federation, edited by Cameron
Ross, takes readers through the meaning, sub-
jectivity and implications of mass protest dur-
ing the aforesaid period. What led to waves of
demonstrations across Russia? Who took part
in those protests? What were the primary goals
attached to those individual protests? How did
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