Citizenship in an enlarging Europe

Citizenship in an Enlarging Europeconsiders the impact of economic, political and social transformation in Central and Eastern Europe in the context of EU enlargement. In a lively and engaging narrative, the author uses gender as the lens through which to examine the processes of democratization, marketization and newly emergent nationalism. She shows the centrality of gender to these processes and the ways in which rigid codes of masculinity and femininity limit people's choices. Individual chapters examine mainstream politics versus the promotion of civil society as routes to empowerment and participation. Barbara Einhorn highlights the growing public-private divide in the region, pinpointing the negative influences of the neo-liberal market model and its gendered media representations. Voices of scholars and actors from the region enliven the narrative. With great clarity, the author reveals the relevance of fully active citizenship within a vibrant civil society as a measure of democracy and gender equitable societies.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.