der Ukraine deuten lässt, und die als ideologisches Instrument gegen Einmischungen von außen konzipiert ist. Putin nutzte seine Popularität, die sich der innenpolitischen Stabilisierung und der diese begleitenden wirtschaftliche Dynamik verdankt, um die außenpolitische Interessenlage Russlands deutlich zu machen. Diese unterscheidet sich klar von der der eu , und neu ist auch die Distanzierung von der Unterordnung früherer Jahre. Die eu ist indessen uneins über Russland, verfügt nicht über eine klare Konzeption und ist mit den Folgen der Erweiterungsrunden beschäftigt. Russland hat wiederum in den letzten Jahren eine außenpolitische Dynamik entwickelt, auf die die anderen europäischen Staaten noch keine klare und konstruktive Antwort gefunden haben. Wie sich dieses Verhältnis in Zeiten einer schweren Krise entwickelt, bleibt abzuwarten. Frank Schauff, Moskau STANISLAWA GOLINOWSKA/ PETER HENGSTENBERG/ MACIEJ ZUKOWSKI(eds.): Diversity and Commonality in European Social Politics: The Forging of a European Social Model Warsaw 2009 Wyd. Naukowe Scholar& Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 423 p. T his collaborative study has the ambitious goal of providing a new interpretation and analysis of European social policy since the»Eastern« enlargement of the European Union in 2004 and 2007. It covers six countries, three of which – France, Germany, and Denmark – represent the older Western European democracies, while the other three are former communist states, namely Poland, Czech Republic, and Estonia. The authors, all recognized experts in the field, conduct a comprehensive review of all aspects of the welfare state – social security, health care, education, public assistance programs, and related social services – in these countries. As a result, the book stands out from other publications of this type. Also in contrast to other studies, which are usually much more narrowly focused thematically, it highlights demographic trends, poverty levels, patterns of inequality, and labor market policies. This crucial contextual information enables the reader to better understand the challenges and opportunities characterizing various social policy reforms undertaken in European countries in recent years. There are several important reasons why this book might be regarded as a pioneering work, opening up a new type of discourse among scholars and experts specializing in the European welfare state. First and foremost, two of its editors are leading scholars from Poland, and it offers a fresh perspective on the Euroipg 2/2009 Rezensionen/Book Reviews 157

pean Social Model that is not restricted in geographical scope to the established Western democracies. The country selection is especially noteworthy because it gives the reader a good insight into the diversity and complexity of contemporary welfare states in the wider, enlarged Europe. While Germany and France showcase the difficulties of reforming old and relatively generous Bismarckian welfare states, Poland stands out both as the largest postcommunist democracy and in terms of its efforts to sustain a similar institutional model but at a much lower level of economic development. It is struggling with significant challenges arising from unfinished health care reform, a huge pension burden, new types of structural poverty, and unemployment. The Czech Republic furnishes a relatively successful example of an egalitarian welfare state with residual social democratic traditions, now tempered by neoliberal reform pressures in a postcommunist context. Finally, Denmark and Estonia represent contrasting cases of small European countries with many similar goals, especially in the development of modern and comprehensive family policies, but also with distinct historical legacies and vast differences in terms of economic resources and contemporary ideological preferences concerning the realization of these goals. Moreover, all contributors to the volume succeed especially well in dispelling three popular myths concerning the social policy consequences of the recent European enlargement. First, many scholars, including some from Eastern Europe, anticipated a strong drive towards the transfer – even imposition – of Western models of social policy to the new member states. Desirable as such transfers might be, they were eventually judged premature and often simply incompatible with historical traditions, contemporary circumstances of fiscal austerity, and the urgent need for rapid economic growth. Second, there were widespread fears of increased social costs – to be incurred by the Western European welfare states – arising from labor migration from east to west in the wake of accession. As Professors Golinowska and Zukowski remind us in the introduction, these have proven grossly exaggerated. The third myth concerns the potential role of the new member states as»Trojan horses« of American-style neoliberalism that could serve to undermine the pro-welfare orientation of the older eu member states and the European Union as a whole. In the end, the Eastern welfare states have adopted some new, market-friendly solutions to their social policy problems but mostly without undermining the basic features of their domestic versions of the European Social Model. Indeed, as the authors of the book show, we have witnessed the emergence of a renewed or reinvented European Social Model that is still based on many fundamental common values, such as social solidarity, active employment agendas, basic income guarantees, full coverage against all major risks, widespread access to health services, and free compulsory education for all children and young people. All the authors, including the specialists on Central and Eastern Europe, supply ample evidence that in each of the countries analyzed serious attempts are 158 Rezensionen/Book Reviews ipg 2/2009

being made to realize these ambitious goals. Despite huge discrepancies in economic resources across Europe, everywhere there is a discernible commitment to high social spending, sometimes even higher than might otherwise be expected, especially in poorer states such as Poland or Estonia. Although the policy outcomes are rather mixed and serious problems persist, these efforts cannot merely be dismissed in the context of the industrialized world as a whole. Furthermore, this work deserves special praise for its critical perspective on the problems hindering further improvement and expansion of social protection – as well as social inclusion – in the European Union. All contributors to the volume acknowledge serious difficulties in reforming national welfare states in both Eastern and Western countries, but they also make valuable points concerning the often indirect and barely detectable influences of eu policies, directives, and occasional court rulings. They enable us to better understand these problems as the products of cross-cutting policy agendas and policy-making practices at the subnational, national, and eu levels. Thus, aside from its significance as a novel perspective on the European Social Model – now understood as an amalgam of interconnected social policy traditions from both Western and East-central Europe with common underlying ideas and goals – this study presents a complex but highly illuminating picture of the evolving systems of welfare protection at the beginning of a new, more globally aware century. Unable to change national institutional trajectories and welfare ideologies, supranational agents(the eu ) can nonetheless force nations to make accommodations in labor and social policies, not so much overriding the distinct features of each country as constantly reminding all Europeans of the ambitious goals and traditions that they share. Making us aware of these complex processes with the help of rich and up-to-date empirical evidence is perhaps the greatest contribution of this book. I recommend it highly to scholars and experts on comparative social policy around the world. Tomasz Inglot, Minnesota State University, USA MARTIN HÖPNER/ ARMIN SCHÄFER(Hrsg.): Die Politische Ökonomie der Europäischen Integration Frankfurt a. M. 2008 Campus Verlag, 448 S. I n den europäischen Mitgliedsstaaten hat das Zusammenspiel von Politik und Ökonomie zur Herausbildung einer Vielzahl unterschiedlicher nationaler »Produktions- und Verteilungsregime« geführt, die auch als Spielarten des Kapitalismus(»varieties of capitalism«) bezeichnet werden. Dem gemeinsamen europäischen Wirtschaftsraum, der in den letzten Jahrzehnten immer enger zusamipg 2/2009 Rezensionen/Book Reviews 159