Book Review on the Decline and Fall of Europe

7/28/2019 Book Review on the Decline and Fall of Europe

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An interesting comparison could perhaps be made with the volume ‘States in the Global

Economy, edited by Linda Weiss and published in 2003. Her remit was more limited, how

she asked her contributors has globalisation and interdependence affected state capacities?

The volumes found variously that social spending had not declined in OECD countries,

State intervention in developmental success stories has shifted away from protection to the

promotion of science and technology and countries, such as India, previously hostile to

international integration have used a new language of nationalism to facilitate liberalising

reforms. There is not much in this volume that Weiss did not uncover 10 years ago with a

simpler and more coherent hypothesis that could be falsified by appeal to the data.

I enjoyed the opening salvo by D’Costa; it was a challenging introduction and pro-

vocatively set up a number of paradoxes, hypotheses and questions. The essays themselves

save for some interesting snippets about brand names in China, environmental aircraft in

Japan and the real political agenda for liberalisation in South Korea told a lot of stories

that will be very familiar to scholars of the development success stories. Albeit those tales

were told using a theoretical framework that here at least confused rather than clarified.

The framework can work. In his 2009 paper published in the Review of International Political Economy, D’Costa used the framework successfully to look at economic

nationalism in India highlighting three industry case studies. There are (to paraphrase an

earlier paragraph) academic rents to be earned with this framework, but so far their

monopolisationa by the innovator looks more promising than any further diffusion.

Matthew McCartney

University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

The Decline and Fall of Europe

Francesco M. Bongiovanni

Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, UK, 2012, 327pp., softcover,

h14, ISBN 978–0–230–36891–0

European Journal of Development Research (2013) 25, 326–329. doi:10.1057/ejdr.2012.53

The Decline and Fall of Europe is an important book whose attention to detail, both pastand present, is a strength. Its publication comes at a very appropriate time, given the

increasing attention to the problems facing Europe, in the media as well as in other sources

(see, for example, Thornton, 2007).

Although the implications of the evolution of the European Union for developing

countries are not straightforward, Bongiovanni has asked some important questions

that are also relevant from the point of view of development policies related to inte-

gration experiences such as MERCOSUR, CARICOM or ASEAN. For instance, the

author tries to answer the question of what ‘Europe’ means: ‘Europe can be seen as a

collection of heterogeneous states which have shared some history, geography, culture,

and of course [Christian] religion for a very long time, yet all have their own distinct

character, speak different languages and have been fighting each other for centuries’(Bongiovanni, 2012, p. 6).

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326 r 2013 European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes 0957-8811European Journal of Development Research Vol. 25, 2, 322–330



In 2005, European citizens rejected, through referendum votes, ‘the so-called EU

Constitution’ (Bongiovanni, 2012, p. 8). Europe, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in

2012, is, however, a noble project ‘based on the idea that Europeans should find better

things to do than to keep slaughtering each other’ (Bongiovanni, 2012, p. 9). However,

unless ‘profound and drastic changes and adjustments in the mentalities and lives of

Europeans, in particular in the South’ (Bongiovanni, 2012, p. 3) are embraced, the Europe

Project will just be a ‘great illusion’ (Bongiovanni, 2012, p. 3). Furthermore, Bongiovanni

states, ‘it is already too late. Europeans would never agree to the extraordinarily

huge collective sacrifices and changes that would be needed to attempt a real reversal’

(Bongiovanni, 2012, p. 8).

Looking at the Asian example, ‘hard work and thrift’ (Bongiovanni, 2012, p. 12)

in tandem both lead to prosperity. ‘Competing national interests remain the driving force

behind EU debates’ (Bongiovanni, 2012, p. 43), and the single currency euro is a ‘power-

ful symbol’ of integration. Yet ‘the euro was a flawed project from the beginning’

(Bongiovanni, 2012, p. 116), as it imposes a single interest rate on substantially different

countries, thereby losing a powerful instrument with which to manage economies.Europe is rich, yet ‘many European governments are [already] de facto broke’ and

impoverished (Bongiovanni, 2012, p. 7). They are now facing similar problems to devel-

oping countries suffering debt crises in the past, and European responses to the crisis have

also involved solutions originating outside the affected States. In Portugal, as indeed in

other countries, the focus has been on austerity (Economist, 2012a). Even if the ‘brutal

austerity measures applied everywhere at the same time’ (Bongiovanni, 2012, p. 288) are

successful, one may hope that, after such a period of monetary restraint, history does not

repeat itself in rapidly bringing these economies back to the same sovereign debt situation.

We could further reflect that EU interventions should focus on long-term and enduring

changes in culture, much as defended as being necessary by the co-recipient of the 1993Nobel Prize in Economics, in order to achieve change in society (North, 2005). This has to

do with structural and institutional change (North, 1990), but mainly with changing the

mentality of the people.

Spain and Greece have not reacted as well to foreign leadership interventions as

Portugal. Portugal, a ‘model pupil for the Eurozone’ (Economist, 2012b), has a more

feminine culture (Hofstede, 2001; Hartog, 2004; Rego and Cunha, 2009) in which bulls

aren’t killed by bullfighters (Hofstede, quoted in Rego and Cunha, 2009, p. 533), and

therefore foreign-led interventions are more well accepted than in Spain and Greece,

which have more assertive/masculine cultures in terms of their practices (Hofstede, 2001;

Hartog, 2004).We as academics tend to be more optimistic than Bongiovanni and still harbor hope for

positive change. This change will have to go across Europe and, we foresee, will require

entirely new economic and social models – something that will not change overnight. A

European culture of solidarity may indeed take a century or two to be developed, as

predicted by Charles De Gaulle (quoted in Bongiovanni, 2012, p. 45). The diverse cultural

and institutional contexts that Europe currently represents need to converge. In Figure 1,

we illustrate a Convergence Model for future EU-led interventions to follow, which

complements Bongiovanni’s book and is based on past intervention experiences. Feminine

cultures (represented by a circle) will accept top-down leadership interventions from for-

eigners – better, in fact, than if the leaders were themselves natives. However, more assertive/

masculine cultures (represented by a square) will not . These cultures require a native

government to decide their future. Finally, convergence should be the objective – but

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327r 2013 European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes 0957-8811European Journal of Development Research Vol. 25, 2, 322–330



occurring over a period of 100 years (Hofstede, 2001; Bongiovanni, 2012). The first stepstowards the EU started in 1991, and it took nearly 20 years for the Europeans to realize that

something went fundamentally wrong in the process that led us to the current state of affairs.

It is also known that ‘awareness precedes change’ (Kubany and Ralston, 2006, p. 267), as

‘research has shown that self-monitoring can aid in modifying a variety of habits’ (Kubany

and Ralston, 2006, p. 267). We are still at the beginning of a long process where we envision

the coexistence of different cultures as they converge towards a mutual understanding and

solidarity. We should be thankful to Francesco M. Bongiovanni, as this book is clearly a

contribution to building this awareness, a contribution that is not only of interest for Eur-

opean leaders but also of interest for developing countries currently involved in integration

experiences. The main lesson they should draw is not to repeat European mistakes.

References

Bongiovanni, F.M. (2012) The decline and fall of Europe. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Economist. (2012a) Portugal’s austerity measures – The tipping point – How much austerity is

too much? 22 September, available at http://www.economist.com/node/21563352, accessed23 October 2012.

Economist. (2012b) Austerity in Portugal – More pain, less gain – Yet another austerity budgetraises concerns about future growth. 20 October, available at http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21564902-yet-another-austerity-budget-raises-concerns-about-future-growth, accessed

23 October 2012.Hartog, D.N.D. (2004) Assertiveness. In: R.J. House, P.J. Hanges, M. Javidan, P.W. Dorfman and

V. Gupta (eds.) Culture, Leadership and Organizations – The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc, pp. 395–436.

Hofstede, G. (2001) Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organi-zations Across Nations, 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Kubany, E.S. and Ralston, T.C. (2006) Cognitive therapy for trauma-related guilt and shame. In:V.C. Follette and J.I. Ruzek (eds.) Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies for Trauma, 2nd edn.New York: The Guilford Press, pp. 258–289.

North, D.C. (1990) Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. New York:Cambridge University Press.

North, D.C. (2005) Understanding the Process of Economic Change. New Jersey: Princeton University

Press.Rego, A. and Cunha, M.P. (2009) Manual de gesta ˜ o transcultural de recursos humanos. Lisbon:Editora RH, Lda.

Figure 1: The convergence model.Source: Own elaboration.

Book Reviews

328 r 2013 European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes 0957-8811European Journal of Development Research Vol. 25, 2, 322–330



Thornton, B. (2007) Decline and Fall – Europe’s Slow-Motion Suicide. New York: EncounterBooks.

Manuel Au-Yong Oliveiraa,b

Joa ˜ o Jose ´ Pinto Ferreiraa

aINESC TEC (coordinated by INESC PORTO),Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

bDepartment of Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering,

University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

Growth, Inequality and Social Development in India: Is Inclusive Growth

Possible?

R. Nagaraj (ed.)

Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2012, 238pp. $100.00, ISBN 978-1-137-00075-0 (hardcover)

European Journal of Development Research (2013) 25, 329–330. doi:10.1057/ejdr.2013.3

India is an ‘immature’ market economy representing social contradictions. On the one

hand, it has an increasing number of citizens representing in the Forbes list of rich men in

the World, on the other, malnourishment is one of the socio-economic realities. In the light

of this, the volume under review raises the pertinent questions on the relationship between

economic growth, policy regimes, poverty reduction and social development in India. This

is a relevant academic effort at a time of socio-economic uncertainties at present.The different chapters address a range of issues, including income distribution, poverty

reduction, social development (with a special focus on basic services such as sanitation and

drinking water) and social protection. In fact, three out of the six research chapters are

related to the analysis of social protection policies. However, as it is clear from the ex-

position in these chapters, the Indian welfare state, although most often claim to represent

growth with ‘human face’, has neither any concrete social security protection even for its

poor citizens nor has been able to sufficiently address the economic inequalities over the

years. The combined intersectional effects of economic inequalities due to ‘new’ market

principles and the social stratification entrenches the poor and deprived to the permanent

trap of economic unfreedom. A careful analysis of national development provides the pictureof growth with equity as a developmental rhetoric in the country. Though there is a trade-off

between growth and equity, most often the notions of ‘human face’ finds its place only in the

official documents to appease the ‘collective will’. The notion of inclusive growth in the neo-

liberal phase of development has further established rhetoricism in India. The rising un-

employment and other forms of economic inequalities confirm this over the years.

The development expenditures of social sector, in this backdrop, have been increased

mainly due to the public criticisms. In spite of it, one can also notice that investment has

been dwindling in the post-reform period. However, one conceptual ‘success’ of the neo-

liberal ideology is that it has so far convinced the ‘collective will’ to take the self-respon-

sibilities for their ‘personal’ welfare. This to a greater extent justifies the non-committal of

state in ensuring any form of concrete social security to the citizens. This trajectory signalsthat the state will increasingly abdicate its responsibility in all aspects of developments in

Book Reviews

329r 2013 European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes 0957-8811European Journal of Development Research Vol. 25, 2, 322–330

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Book Review on the Decline and Fall of Europe