This edited volume gathers a diverse group of legal researchers, historians, political scientists and anthropologists, who together widen the scholarship on the European integration of the Western Balkans, particularly in the area of memory, identity and conflicts. The book contributes to the debate on the future of Europe and EU integration by promoting an understanding of Europe as a state of mind rooted in the shared values of peaceful coexistence in diversity, freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
The opening chapters of the book focus on the impact of current conflicts on EU enlargement, and on the prospects of candidate countries and their changing perception of the EU and the West in a broader sense, showing how this triggers the (re)action of other non-West political actors. A second section is dedicated to the specific particularities of the cultural Europeanisation of the region, current (identity) conflicts and memory constructions, and how certain models and patterns might act as drivers of cultural Europeanisation. Finally, three chapters are dedicated to the multifaceted challenges of Montenegro and its path to the EU, from both contemporary and historical perspectives, which pars pro toto explain the complexity and problems of the region as a whole in its development after 1989, and the redefinition of concepts like multiculturalism, national minorities, ethnic nations, and social cohesion.
