Stepping out of the shadow? Studies of local governments in Central and Eastern Europe in European academic research Cover Image

Wyjście z cienia? Obecność studiów samorządowych w Europie Środkowej i Wschodniej w nauce europejskiej
Stepping out of the shadow? Studies of local governments in Central and Eastern Europe in European academic research

Author(s): Paweł Swianiewicz, Anna Kurniewicz
Subject(s): Politics, Geography, Regional studies, Governance, Sociology, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: EUROREG - Uniwersytet Warszawski, Regional Studies Association - Sekcja Polska
Keywords: local government; Central and Eastern Europe; dependency theory; academic research; comparative studies

Summary/Abstract: The article is an analysis of the changing role and position of research on local governments in Central and Eastern Europe in the mainstream European studies. The article refers to dependency theory (Wallerstein, Prebish) applied to scientific research. It classifies Central and Eastern Europe as a half-periphery of academic research. Empirical analysis consists of two parts. The first – qualitative – is a review of the most important comparative studies of European local governments and includes discussion of the role of local governments and researchers from the Eastern part of the continent in those studies. The second – quantitative – is based on an analysis of articles published in the best international journals and citations of those articles in the Scopus database. The authors of articles on local governments in Central and Eastern Europe are divided into two groups: “locals” and “colonisers” – i.e. academics from Western universities conducting their research in Eastern Europe. The analysis covers 14 countries of Central and Eastern Europe (all the New Member States that have joined the EU since 2004 plus the Balkan countries – Albania, Macedonia and Serbia).

  • Issue Year: 20/2019
  • Issue No: 75
  • Page Range: 28-51
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: English, Polish