The Politics of Smallness in Modern Europe
Size, Identity and International Relations since 1800
Published on 21. April 2022
Book
Hardback
264 pages
978-1-350-16888-6 (ISBN)
Description
Rather than simply assuming that some states are small and others are big, The Politics of Smallness in Modern Europe delves deep into the construction of different size-based hierarchies in Europe and explores the way Europeans have thought about their own state's size and that of their continental neighbours since the early 19th century. By positing that ideas about size are intimately connected with both basic discourses about a state's identity and policy discourses about the range of options most appropriate to that state, this multi-contributor volume presents a novel way of thinking about what makes one state, in the eyes of both its own inhabitants and those of others, different from others, and what effects these perceived differences have had, and continue to have, on domestic, European, and global politics.
Bringing together an international team of historians and political scientists, this nuanced and sophisticated study examines the connections between shifting ideas about a state's (relative) size, competing notions of national interest and mission, and international policy in modern Europe and beyond.
Bringing together an international team of historians and political scientists, this nuanced and sophisticated study examines the connections between shifting ideas about a state's (relative) size, competing notions of national interest and mission, and international policy in modern Europe and beyond.
Reviews / Votes
Finally, a full study of how small states experience and narrate their smallness. Welcome to Small State Studies, dear historians! * Iver B. Neumann, Co-Editor of Small States in International Relations * At a time when all attention is going towards great power competition and grand strategy, The Politics of Smallness in Modern Europe offers us food for thought on how small states in the international system have navigated the demands for autonomy and agency within challenging circumstances in the past. The book shows how indeed small can be great. * Isabelle Duyvesteyn, Professor of International Studies and Global History, Leiden University, Netherlands * [This] book is coherent and incredibly rich. With its interdisciplinary approach, it will appeal to scholars of language, religion, nationalism, publishing, commerce, tourism and strategic communications. Still, its fundamental significance lies in endowing the study of small states with a serious research agenda (including questions of size, hierarchies, status and more). In this regard, this edited volume on smallness makes a major academic contribution. * International Affairs *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
20 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-350-16888-6 (9781350168886)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Samuel Kruizinga
The Politics of Smallness in Modern Europe
Size, Identity and International Relations Since 1800
E-Book
03/2022
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€32.99
Available for download
Person
Samuel Kruizinga is Senior Lecturer in Military and Modern History at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He recently edited, along with Ruud van Dijk, Vincent Kuitenbrouwer, and Rimko van der Maar, Shaping the International Relations of the Netherlands, 1815-2000: A Small Country on the Global Scene (2018).
Content
Introduction, Samuel Kruizinga (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
1. Belittling Spain: Hispanophobia and the Mirror Image of Greatness, Yolanda Rodriguez Perez (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
2. Dealing with Smallness in Hasbsburg Bohemia, Ottoman Albania and Tsarist Georgia in the late-19th and early-20th century, Adrian Brisku (Charles University, Czech Republic and University of Vienna, Austria)
3. Smallness and the East-West Binary in Nationalism Studies: Belgium and Romania in the Long 19th Century, Raul Carstocea (University of Flensburg, Germany) & Maarten Van Ginderachter (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
4. 'Poor Little Belgium': Food Aid and the Image of Belgian Victimhood in the United States, Marjet Brolsma & Samuel Kruizinga (both University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
5. Science, Health and American Money: Small-State Strategies in Interwar Czechoslovakia and Denmark, Elisabeth Van Meer (College of Charleston, USA), Casper Andersen (Aarhus University, Denmark) & Ludvig Goldschmidt Pedersen (Aarhus University, Denmark)
6. Neutral news: Forging a Small States' Transnational Media Network, 1920 - 1940, Vincent Kuitenbrouwer (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
7. 'Whoever Says That Serbia Is Small, Is Lying!': Serbia, Ontological (In)Security and the Unbearable Smallness of Being, Christian Axboe Nielsen (Aarhus University, Denmark)
8. Iceland's Smallness: Acceptance or Denial?, Baldur ?orhallsson & Gu?mundur Halfdanarson (both University of Iceland, Iceland)
10. Great Britain and Little Ireland: Reimagining British and Irish relations in BIPA, Brexit and Beyond, Sara Dybris McQuaid (Aarhus University, Denmark)
11. From David to Goliath? The Question of Size in Israel's Identity Politics, Alexei Tsinovoi (Copenhagen University, Denmark)
12. Conclusions and Outlook, Samuel Kruizinga (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands) & Karen Gram-Skjoldager (Aarhus University, Denmark)
Bibliography
Glossary
Index
1. Belittling Spain: Hispanophobia and the Mirror Image of Greatness, Yolanda Rodriguez Perez (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
2. Dealing with Smallness in Hasbsburg Bohemia, Ottoman Albania and Tsarist Georgia in the late-19th and early-20th century, Adrian Brisku (Charles University, Czech Republic and University of Vienna, Austria)
3. Smallness and the East-West Binary in Nationalism Studies: Belgium and Romania in the Long 19th Century, Raul Carstocea (University of Flensburg, Germany) & Maarten Van Ginderachter (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
4. 'Poor Little Belgium': Food Aid and the Image of Belgian Victimhood in the United States, Marjet Brolsma & Samuel Kruizinga (both University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
5. Science, Health and American Money: Small-State Strategies in Interwar Czechoslovakia and Denmark, Elisabeth Van Meer (College of Charleston, USA), Casper Andersen (Aarhus University, Denmark) & Ludvig Goldschmidt Pedersen (Aarhus University, Denmark)
6. Neutral news: Forging a Small States' Transnational Media Network, 1920 - 1940, Vincent Kuitenbrouwer (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
7. 'Whoever Says That Serbia Is Small, Is Lying!': Serbia, Ontological (In)Security and the Unbearable Smallness of Being, Christian Axboe Nielsen (Aarhus University, Denmark)
8. Iceland's Smallness: Acceptance or Denial?, Baldur ?orhallsson & Gu?mundur Halfdanarson (both University of Iceland, Iceland)
10. Great Britain and Little Ireland: Reimagining British and Irish relations in BIPA, Brexit and Beyond, Sara Dybris McQuaid (Aarhus University, Denmark)
11. From David to Goliath? The Question of Size in Israel's Identity Politics, Alexei Tsinovoi (Copenhagen University, Denmark)
12. Conclusions and Outlook, Samuel Kruizinga (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands) & Karen Gram-Skjoldager (Aarhus University, Denmark)
Bibliography
Glossary
Index