"migration and the new europe."by kimberly a. hamilton

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"Migration and the New Europe." by Kimberly A. Hamilton Review by: David M. Crowe Slavic Review, Vol. 54, No. 2 (Summer, 1995), pp. 539-540 Published by: Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2501715 . Accessed: 14/06/2014 21:18 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Slavic Review. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 185.44.77.38 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 21:18:16 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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"Migration and the New Europe." by Kimberly A. HamiltonReview by: David M. CroweSlavic Review, Vol. 54, No. 2 (Summer, 1995), pp. 539-540Published by:Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2501715 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 21:18

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserveand extend access to Slavic Review.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.38 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 21:18:16 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Book Reviews 539

his suggestion of "new pluralism" he hints at the growing fault line since 1989-the tensions between indigenous churches and western missionary efforts.

The chapter on pacifism lends a certain asymmetry to an otherwise country-based collection, a fact redeemed however by its excellent treatment by noted Mennonite scholar, Lawrence Klippenstein. He chronicles the struggle of conscientious objectors, distinguishing between the influence of faith and that of the European peace move- ment, and predicting that, despite legal liberalization, "COs would continue to expe- rience difficulties even after the demise of the Communist regime" due to nationalism.

In a concluding chapter Ramet provides a comprehensive and analytically so- phisticated review of the changes since 1989, including legal and property rights of churches, normalization of church life and factors militating for and against the rise of official churches. She concludes that in the "new church-state configuration" the "historic heterogeneity of the region" is replacing the "homogenizing communist sys- tem." Stricker not only draws contrasts with the Catholic churches but raises the overarching question: how effective were Protestant churches in coping with com- munism? This volume provides a coherent answer to this question (with the exception of the chapter on Protestant theology by Sape Zylstra, which blurs the focus on com- munist systems by devoting lengthy sections to England and the US). Protestant churches were more vulnerable to communist cooptation and, for the most part, un- able to offer much resistance. They did, however, engage in active theological delib- eration and, in their diversity, offered significant avenues for dissent.

ROBERT F. GOECKEL State University of New York, Geneseo

"Migration and the New Europe." Ed. Kimberly A. Hamilton. Washington: The Center for Strategic & International Studies, 1994. xx, 95 pp. $14.95, paper.

This small but extremely useful study of the current immigration crisis haunting west Europeans is the result of papers delivered at a conference co-sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Bonino-Pulejo Foundation in Sicily in spring 1993.

The collapse of the former Soviet Union and Empire, the war in Bosnia-Herze- govina and western Europe's profound unemployment crisis have created deep con- cern about the growing wave of immigration into Europe's western democracies. These worries have been exacerbated by the region's move towards greater integration, which includes lowering entry barriers.

According to Demetrios G. Papademetriou, a seige mentality has infected western Europe over the past five years, centered primarily around the spectre of sudden, mass waves of eastern and southern Europeans into western Europe. He feels these fears are unfounded and have been used by opponents of European integration to halt its course. While there is no question that western Europe's foreign populations have risen appreciably over the past 14 years, Papademetriou correctly notes that it has been a gradual increase and one not solely linked to the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Germany, for example, which, because of its former lenient asylum policies, was haven to a growing number of aliens, saw only a gradual rise in its immigrant population after 1980, a trend shared by most of its western neighbors. The only exceptions were Austria and Italy, and even their dramatic increases in foreign populations were small when compared to each country's overall population.

Jonas Widgren adds that over 42% of the almost 3 million aliens who have entered western Europe since 1985 have applied for permanent residence, while another 680,000 sought asylum as political refugees. The asylum issue has been particularly troubling to governments in western Europe, since many of the traditional reasons for such applications have dissipated. While close to 2 million aliens have sought to stay in western Europe as political refugees, Widgren notes that only 15-20% of their claims have been approved. Yet almost all of the asylum seekers find ways to remain

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540 Slavic Review

in the west. Kathleen Newland feels that this seemingly unworkable immigration sys- tem has caused much of the unreasonable fear about potential waves of unwanted immigrants. Though the reality is quite different from the fears, Newland feels that the ineffectiveness and cost of dealing with asylum applications, which costs western Europe $7 billion annually, call for a complete reworking of the region's immigrant application process.

S6renJessen-Petersen is sympathetic to Newland's concerns and discusses the UN high commissioner for refugees' seven-point proposal for dealing with western Eu- rope's complex refugee problem. The high commissioner's proposal deals not only with the modernization of traditional immigration policies but also calls for the com- plete re-evaluation of west European attitudes towards aliens. Equally important, ac- cording toJessen-Petersen, are proactive economic policies that help regional, devel- oping countries forestall long-range economic difficulties that would trigger future immigration waves. In a comparative, concluding essay, Sidney Weintraub and Georges A. Fauriol look at American immigration policies and efforts to prevent future im- migration crises through the strengthening of weak neighbors who have traditionally been the source of northward immigration into the United States.

Like any solid account of such a complex issue, this study would have been stronger if some attention had been paid to the deeper, individual societal problems and con- cerns that have triggered such a fearful European reaction to the influx of aliens. An index and bibliography would also have enhanced the quality of the work. Regardless, this analysis, which will be useful in any college or university upper division or grad- uate course on modern Europe or contemporary European ethnic issues, stands as a solid introduction to what will hopefully be a more creative west European approach to an issue that will continue to challenge the region for some time to come.

DAVID M. CROWE Elon College

The Anatomy of the New Poland: Post-Communist Politics in Its First Phase. By Frances Millard. Brookfield: Edward Edgar, 1994. ix, 260 pp. Figures. Tables. $59.95, hard bound.

Francis Millard is reader in East European Politics in the School of Social and His- torical Studies at the University of Portsmouth, UK. In this short, very fine book she covers a breathtaking amount of ground, weaving historical, economic and political analyses into a near-seamless narrative.

This is no small feat. Poland's politics are nearly impenetrable to outsiders (and, one suspects, to many insiders), not the least because the modern world is dauntingly complex and interrelated, but also because Poland's political life is so infernally fluid and there are so many players in the political game. However, in nine chapters Millard manages to sort out the personalities and factors involved in Poland's postcommunist politics, economics and social life and to give at least the semblance of order to them. One comes away from Millard's book with a feeling similar to that of the character in the New Yorker cartoon who looks up from a complex tome and exclaims, "By George, for a moment there it all made sense!"

The story of Poland's breakout from communism is a familiar one to most stu- dents of central and east Europe, even those who are not specialists on Poland. Millard covers much of this ground again in the first three chapters. But rather than being just another rehash of the same set of events (albeit an exceptionally well written one), the author uses the history as the starting point for very competent analyses of Poland's political, economic and social situations and the complex interplay of personalities and factors affecting-and being affected by-them. Millard's chapters on the several Polish governments, elections and the party system, the development of political in- stitutions, the politics of privatization, decommunization and civil liberties, and Po-

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