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The twelve essays in this collection by leading academics from the countries discussed examine how rapid global change and social transformation are impacting on all aspects of political life in the UK, Ireland, Northern Ireland, France, Spain, and the Basque country. It focuses on the uneven impact of these changes on interrelated levels of politics--national, regional, and institutional.
List of contents
Theoretical and comparative introduction: a politics of transition in Britain, France and Spain, Jennifer Todd, Anne Mandeville and Joseph Ruane; theorizing the transition - the longue duree, conjuncture and centre-periphery relations in Britain, France and Spain Joseph Ruane. Part 1 Transformations of territorial politics - the state in transition: Spain - the constitution of 1978 and centre-periphery tensions Jose Maria Comas; the British state since 1970 - reconfigurations and continuities, Jennifer Todd; beyond exceptionalism - regional and local governance in France, Alistair Cole. Part 2 Regionalism, nationalism, separatism - the changing articulation of peripheral nationalist demands: Catalonia - autonomous community or nascent state?, Jordi Argelaguet; a changed Irish nationalism? The significance of the Belfast Agreement of 1998, Joseph Ruane and Jennifer Todd; France's peripheral parties - nuanced demands, Fabien Charlet. Part 3 The role of institutions - the security forces and the maintenance of order: the Basque imbroglio - a clash of logics and a multiplicity of actors, J r me Montes; the maintenance of order in a changing state - the reform of policing in the United Kingdom, Anne Mandeville; the maintenance of public order in France - inertia and transformation in the contemporary evolution of French state security, Alain Picard; conclusion - Europe's old states and the New World Order, Jennifer Todd.
