European Integration and New Forms of Uneven Development: But Not the End of Territorially Distinctive Capitalisms in Europe

The pace of change in the political economic geography of Europe accelerated quickly in the 1990s as a consequence of EU deepening and widening, especially following the collapse of state socialism in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The changes have been complex and, in certain respects, contradictory, simultaneously creating processes of convergence and divergence, homogenization and differentiation. They defy easy interpretation, and so generate often heated debate as to their meaning and desirability; for they raise critical issues of theory and interpretation and fundamental questions as to the future of Europe and the character and political hue of the European Project. In particular – the focus of this paper – they