Overview

This book explores the current state of society in Europe in general and the regimes and societies of the Western Balkans in particular. The pandemic and near-universal lockdown have provided an ideal cut-off date for the collection of indices from reputable academic sources that cover the nature of these regimes, individual human freedoms, economic freedoms, the rule of law, human rights and media freedoms. The aggregated findings from the 20 individual indices provide comprehensive data to support original findings and the characterisation of societies in 45 European states. Admittedly, there are differences in the methodologies and samples among the indices consulted. Nonetheless, taken together they offer a solid basis for developing arguments concerning the diversity of regimes, governance and societies in Europe and drawing well-founded conclusions on the nature of society in various parts of Europe. Though the book’s main focus is on the Western Balkans, the region is put in a pan-European context. The issues of migration, minorities, global geopolitics, the crisis of liberal democracy – they all play into developments that are specific to the Western Balkans. The book answers the question of whether the pandemic has allowed local regimes to strengthen their power and exert greater control over society, making it possible to formulate arguments regarding the future of Europe and its integrative processes. In closing, the book investigates Western Balkan regimes’ reactions to the pandemic in the context of governance, society and state power, before addressing the question of whether the future of the Western Balkans lies in the “liberal club”, or whether local hybrid regimes will become even more influential in the near future.

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9783030910754

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Reviews

“The volume does a great job in dissecting democratic backsliding processes during the pandemic amidst the global rise of populism. … the book is well written and deserves much praise for highlighting the complex relationships between state power and society across the familiar Western European context as well as in the less-studied countries of the Western Balkans. In all, Andjelic’s account represents a valuable addition to the field of comparative democratization studies.” (Ion Marandici, Comparative Southeast European Studies, Vol. 70 (4), 2022)

The volume does a great job in dissecting democratic backsliding processes during the pandemic amidst the global rise of populism. ... the book is well written and deserves much praise for highlighting the complex relationships between state power and society across the familiar Western European context as well as in the less-studied countries of the Western Balkans. In all, Andjelic's account represents a valuable addition to the field of comparative democratization studies. (Ion Marandici, Comparative Southeast European Studies, Vol. 70 (4), 2022)

Author Information

Neven Andjelic teaches international politics, International Relations and Human Rights at Regent's University London. He served on the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities - Council of Europe from 2014 to 2018. Neven is also Visiting Professor at the University of Bologna and is giving visiting lectures and talks at the Europa-Institut of the Saarland University. He was a Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE and a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley. Neven gave talks at Columbia and Stanford universities, Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC, Miles and Birmingham South colleges in Alabama, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and the University of California at Berkeley. His previous affiliations include Birkbeck College, Open University, Sussex, Kent, Sarajevo, Webster University, and Queen's University Canada (International Studies Center in the UK). His broad interests andlife circumstances made him a multidisciplinary academic. Neven graduated in Law from the University of Sarajevo. 

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