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Recent concerns about the rise of populist movements obfuscate the limits and the contradictions inherent in the concept. The imposition of the liberal framework's economic policies, institutional designs and ideology across an entire region provides a unique opportunity to show the effects of the European project.
List of contents
1. Introduction (Petr Agha & Petr Drulák) 2. The Politics of Periphery and the EU Enlargement (Emilija Tudzarovska) 3. Controlling Normality: Reinforcement of Core-Periphery Dynamics through Legal Normativity (Petr Agha) 4. Apathy in Neo-Liberal Post-Socialism (Renata Salecl) 5. 1989's Ambitious Pragmatism: Recovering the Path Beyond Communism and Capitalism (Albena Azmanova) 6. The Rise and Fall of Legal Idealism, 1989-2022: Law, History, Ideology (Cosmin Cercel) 7. The Road to Dependence and Periphery (Petr Drulak)
About the author
Petr Agha is a legal scholar and socio-legal theorist whose work explores the intersections of law, power, and social transformation. He holds a Ph.D. in law and is a research fellow at the Institute of State and Law of the Czech Academy of Sciences. His academic focus includes constitutional theory, critical legal studies, European integration, and post-socialist transitions. Drawing from interdisciplinary approaches, Agha interrogates the normative assumptions of liberal democracy and technocratic governance, with a particular emphasis on the post-1989 transformations in Central and Eastern Europe. He is the editor of several volumes on law, identity, and the politics of inclusion, and has published widely on topics including human rights, populism, and the politics of European values. Beyond academia, he engages in public discourse through essays, media commentary, and cultural projects that challenge the boundaries of law, art, and activism.
Petr Drulák is a Czech political scientist, diplomat, and public intellectual. He is currently a professor at the Department of International Relations at the University of West Bohemia and a former director of the Institute of International Relations in Prague (2004-2013). His academic work bridges political theory, international relations, and European studies, with a particular focus on the ideologies of liberalism, technocracy, and post-communist transformation in Central and Eastern Europe. Drulák has authored and edited numerous influential books and articles on foreign policy, European integration, and international political theory. Beyond academia, he served as the Czech Republic's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (2014-2015) and later as ambassador to France (2017-2021). His contributions continue to shape both academic and policy debates on Europe's political and ideological future.
