Viva la Transición


Book Description

In einem Europa, das von Entdemokratisierung und Entsolidarisierung geprägt ist, zeigt der Autor Wege der Transition auf: hin zu einem starken und polymorphen Europa mit ausgeprägten und demokratisch organisierten Institutionen. Ausgangspunkt der Analyse sind der Zusammenbruch des Warschauer Paktes und die Transitionsprozesse in Mittel- und Osteuropa. In drei großen Teilen werden Begrifflichkeiten geklärt und das Verhältnis der mittel- und osteuropäischen untereinander analysiert sowie Bruch und Annäherung von Ost und West anschaulich dargestellt. Zunächst wird in Teil I die Phase nach dem Fall der Berliner Mauer bis zum Jahr 2008 mit all ihren Paradoxien und Annäherungsprozessen nachgezeichnet, bevor sich anschließend ab 2008/09 die Phase der großen Krisen (Teil II) andeutet. In Teil III wird ein kleiner Ausblick gewagt, der trotz Corona bedenkenswert ist.




A New Struggle for Independence in Modern Latin America


Book Description

This volume explores several notable themes related to foreign affairs in Latin America and the reconfiguration of the power of the different states in the region. It offers insightful historical perspectives for understanding national, regional and global issues from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, from analysis of the traditional "hegemony" of the United States over Latin America through its military, and political influence due to the presence of the European Union, Russia, and China. These views cannot be reduced to a simplistic vision of the dominant and subordinate; rather, they attempt to seek lines of continuity by highlighting traditional interpretations of new scenarios such as regional trading and security blocs. The volume refuses to impose a traditional and uncritical linear historical narrative onto the reader but instead proposes an alternative interpretation of the past and its relation to the present. Finally, the growing importance of international mechanisms in enabling the success of certain Latin American regimes is also highlighted, in particular the influence of regional diffusion through international organizations or other networks.




Entrepreneurship in Spain


Book Description

The figure of the entrepreneur has become a relevant factor that explains the process of growth and economic development. Rising unemployment rates have generated among institutional and private agents, a significant interest in promoting entrepreneurship as a formula to eradicate this social scourge of unemployment. Active policies that favor business culture and initiative are being promoted in all areas. In the university world, academic research has multiplied the work on entrepreneurship, a term that includes a triple meaning: the figure of the entrepreneur, the business function and the creation of companies. This versatile meaning must be based on a consistent theory about the company and the entrepreneur. This book presents specific cases of companies and entrepreneurs that have had their role throughout the history of Spain. The intention is to show the techniques and learning acquired by those agents, which have allowed a considerable advance in the knowledge of the structure and business development. This book brings together the research carried out by its authors with primary sources and makes it accessible to a wide audience—Spanish and Latin American—and will be of value to researchers, academics, and students with an interest in Spanish entrepreneurship, business, and management history.




The Anatomy of a Moment


Book Description

In February 1981, just as Spain was finally leaving Franco's dictatorship and during the first democratic vote in parliament for a new prime minister - Colonel Tejero and a band of right-wing soldiers burst into the Spanish parliament and began firing shots. Only three members of Congress defied the incursion and did not dive for cover,: Adolfo Suarez the then outgoing prime minister, who had steered the country away from the Franco era, Guttierez Mellado, a conservative general who had loyally served democracy, and Santiago Carillo, the head of the Communist Party, which had just been legalised. In The Anatomy of a Moment, Cercas examines a key moment in Spanish history, just as he did so successfully in his Spanish Civil War novel, Soldiers of Salamis. This is the only coup ever to have been caught on film as it was happening, which, as Cercas says, 'guaranteed both its reality and its unreality'. Every February a few seconds of the video are shown again and Spaniards congratulate themselves for standing up for democracy, but Cercas says that things were very quiet that afternoon and evening while all over Spain people stayed inside waiting for the coup to be defeated .... or to triumph.




Spain


Book Description

This comprehensive survey of Spain’s history looks at the major political, social, and economic changes that took place from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of the twenty-first century. A thorough introduction to post-Civil War Spain, from its development under Franco and subsequent transition to democracy up to the present day Tusell was a celebrated public figure and historian. During his lifetime he negotiated the return to Spain of Picasso’s Guernica, was elected UCD councillor for Madrid, and became a respected media commentator before his untimely death in 2005 Includes a biography and political assessment of Francisco Franco Covers a number of pertinent topics, including fascism, isolationism, political opposition, economic development, decolonization, terrorism, foreign policy, and democracy Provides a context for understanding the continuing tensions between democracy and terrorism, including the effects of the 2004 Madrid Bombings




European Union Enlargement


Book Description

European Union Enlargement provides a comparative analysis of the post-war European policies of those states that joined the European Union between 1973 and 1995. The volume draws upon new empirical research in order to investigate the policies that these 'newcomer' states have had towards Europe since 1945, with an emphasis on their experience of membership and its possible Europeanising effect. A final comparative chapter draws the national European policies of the 'newcomers' together and outlines what they have brought to the EU. The book also tests integration theories against the available evidence, demonstrating their limited explanatory value and the economic, political and cultural specificity of different national paths towards EU integration.




Companies and Entrepreneurs in the History of Spain


Book Description

This book analyses the economic history of the company and entrepreneurship in Spain from the 15th century to the present. It evaluates the economic theory, the formation of the figure of the entrepreneur, as well as the structure of the companies. This exploration of the businessmen in Spain over several centuries is something that has not been done until now. Joining the great Spanish historiographical debate about the existence or not of entrepreneurship, the book brings together research in very different historical contexts and junctures. It presents a selection of cases of companies and entrepreneurs from Spain, from different sectors, regions and periods, from boom to crisis, from the wine businessman to the railway sector, from private banking to the pioneers of the Spanish travel agency business. It will be of interest to academics and students in economic history, business and management history, as well as researchers in entrepreneurship & small business management.




Party Formation and Democratic Transition in Spain


Book Description

The abrupt collapse and dissolution of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD), the party which governed Spain during the crucial period of the transition to democracy (1977-82), is one of the most extraordinary events in the history of European party politics. This book develops an original theoretical framework for the study of party institutionalisation, and draws on a wide range of empirical sources to offer new insights into the causes of the UCD's collapse.




Contemporary Spanish Foreign Policy


Book Description

This book examines the evolution of Spanish foreign policy since 1975, through five different presidencies, spanning its transformation from a dictatorial political system and backward economy to a modern European state, fully democratic and with a well-functioning market economy, under strain from the Eurozone Sovereign Debt crisis. It explains how domestic developments and external factors have combined to shape Spain’s international relations, assessing the impact of EU membership and providing an example of how middle powers can pursue their foreign policy objectives in the international system. The authors explore a range of topics including: Defence and security Economy and development Soft power Spanish policy towards the EU, the United States, Latin America, the Mediterranean, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Spanish politics and history, European Union studies, foreign policy, international relations and security studies.




Living the Death of Democracy in Spain


Book Description

This volume brings together new interdisciplinary perspectives on the Spanish Civil War, its victims, its contentious ending, and its aftermath. In exploring the slow demise of the Spanish Republic and the course of the Civil War, the authors have chosen to range in turn over cinematic, literary and historical depictions of the era. In addition, reactions elsewhere in Europe to the Spanish conflict are examined; the role of the International Brigades is looked at afresh; the fate of children displaced during the Civil War is explored; and the Spanish anarcho-syndicalist movement is revisited. The volume shows that to be any kind of soldier in the armies of the Republic, or even to be seen as a Republican sympathiser, was to become a "non-person" in the new order in Spain under Franco, and sets what supporters of the Republic had to endure within the wider European and international context of the period. This book offers timely fresh insights into the failure of the Spanish Republic and into a society that tried in vain to unite its divided people during what was a seismic era in Spain’s history. This book was originally published as a special issue of Bulletin of Spanish Studies.