the european dream: how europe's vision of the future is quietly eclipsing the american dream

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The Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Europe Volume 5 • Number 2 • Fall/Winter 2005 Book Reviews Thomas Taaffe University of Massachusetts–Amherst e European Dream: How Europe’s Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream. Jeremy Riin. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/ Penguin, 2004. 434 pages (cloth), 448 pages (paper). ISBN: 1585424358 (paper), 1585423459 (cloth). Aaron Peron Ogletree Journal of Buddhist Ethics Kui Xing Journal European leaders were in disbelief as European voters repeatedly rejected the European Union Constitution. is leſt in doubt not only whether the potential of Europe will ever realized, but whether the progress already made in forging the European Union will be lost as well. Jeremy Riin’s e European Dream addresses why the Euro- pean Union provides a compelling case for displacing the United States as the model for humanity and Europeans resistance to this transnational dream. is argument runs through the book, which documents examples of Europe in contrast to the US promoting community relationships over individual autonomy, human rights, diversity over conformity, maintainable development over unimpeded material growth, standard of living over obtaining wealth, and peace and harmony over militarism. e European Dream is intended to be a first draſt that attempts to find some synergism between the European and American Dreams in order to reach a synthesis that explores the best of each Dream. is book is compro- mised of sixteen chapters divided into three parts. Before this division, Riin gives an excellent topical introduction to the book. He provides the chance to obtain theoretical ground that escaped post-modern trends, specifically by focusing on a historical and sociological analysis of issues such as social change, economics, and politics. e first part, ‘New Lessons from e Old World’ dis- cusses why the American Dream is becoming irrelevant in the era of globalization while the European Dream is a new land of opportunity. According Riin, many Americans still believe in the American Dream despite it becoming increasingly unattainable. Riin cites economic measures ranging from Gross Domestic Product, trade deficit, and national health in order to show why the Euro- pean Union surpasses the United States in commerce. In part two, ‘e Making of the Modern Age,’ explores the institutional and philosophical changes that led to the modern age. Here, Riin recounts how the inventions of the clock and the calendar have changed conscious- ness of spatial and temporal relationships. e concept of perspective changed man’s relationship to the world by placing him at the center of the world. He even argues that replacing spiritual values with material values, changing living arrangements promoting privacy, and permitting accumulation of wealth are behavioral changes that have led to the creation of an autonomous and individualized, though, conformist culture. e invention and codification of the private property regime made possible the pursuit of autonomy and accumulation of wealth. is part closes him tracing the creation and evolution of both capitalist markets and nation-states since their beginning in Europe. In the last part, ‘e Coming Global Era’ analyzes why the European Union is the first to understand and act upon the emerging realities of an increasingly interde- pendent world. Riin demonstrates that in a globalized economy that pooling resources, trust, sharing risks, and revenue streams in network-based relationships are necessary to succeed. Focusing on the creation of the European Union, he documents its creation as a politi- cal vehicle that could manage conflicts and competing agendas in order to promote peace and flourishing of Europeans. To accomplish this European nation-states have pooled their resources to compete with others for power by operating not on geographic planes, but rather planetary fields which allows it to manage changing human activity in global networks. is involves address- ing concerns of civil society in a world increasingly ruled by corporations and governments. Riin then finds one of the biggest impediments achieving the European Dream is prejudice against immigrants and foreigners, though, they are needed to maintain the quality of life Europeans are accustomed to as Europeans begin to age and die out due to low fertility rates. Despite this backlash the European Dream supports cultural diversity through the recognition of human rights of others and the promo- tion of empathy. As this part continues, Riin returns to his comparative analysis of the United States and the European Union oppositing views of the world which reveals that the United States is far more willing and able to resort to violence than the European Union is when resolving domestic and international conflicts. He points out, however, that Europeans unlike Americans favor precautionary measures because some proposed avenues

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Page 1: The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream

The Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of EuropeVolume 5 • Number 2 • Fall/Winter 2005

Book ReviewsThomas Taaffe

University of Massachusetts–Amherst

The European Dream: How Europe’s Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream. Jeremy Rifkin. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/ Penguin, 2004. 434 pages (cloth), 448 pages (paper). ISBN: 1585424358 (paper), 1585423459 (cloth).

Aaron Peron OgletreeJournal of Buddhist EthicsKui Xing Journal

European leaders were in disbelief as European voters repeatedly rejected the European Union Constitution. This left in doubt not only whether the potential of Europe will ever realized, but whether the progress already made in forging the European Union will be lost as well. Jeremy Rifkin’s The European Dream addresses why the Euro-pean Union provides a compelling case for displacing the United States as the model for humanity and Europeans resistance to this transnational dream. This argument runs through the book, which documents examples of Europe in contrast to the US promoting community relationships over individual autonomy, human rights, diversity over conformity, maintainable development over unimpeded material growth, standard of living over obtaining wealth, and peace and harmony over militarism.

The European Dream is intended to be a first draft that attempts to find some synergism between the European and American Dreams in order to reach a synthesis that explores the best of each Dream. This book is compro-mised of sixteen chapters divided into three parts. Before this division, Rifkin gives an excellent topical introduction to the book. He provides the chance to obtain theoretical ground that escaped post-modern trends, specifically by focusing on a historical and sociological analysis of issues such as social change, economics, and politics.

The first part, ‘New Lessons from The Old World’ dis-cusses why the American Dream is becoming irrelevant in the era of globalization while the European Dream is a new land of opportunity. According Rifkin, many Americans still believe in the American Dream despite it becoming increasingly unattainable. Rifkin cites economic measures ranging from Gross Domestic Product, trade deficit, and national health in order to show why the Euro-pean Union surpasses the United States in commerce.

In part two, ‘The Making of the Modern Age,’ explores the institutional and philosophical changes that led to the

modern age. Here, Rifkin recounts how the inventions of the clock and the calendar have changed conscious-ness of spatial and temporal relationships. The concept of perspective changed man’s relationship to the world by placing him at the center of the world. He even argues that replacing spiritual values with material values, changing living arrangements promoting privacy, and permitting accumulation of wealth are behavioral changes that have led to the creation of an autonomous and individualized, though, conformist culture. The invention and codification of the private property regime made possible the pursuit of autonomy and accumulation of wealth. This part closes him tracing the creation and evolution of both capitalist markets and nation-states since their beginning in Europe.

In the last part, ‘The Coming Global Era’ analyzes why the European Union is the first to understand and act upon the emerging realities of an increasingly interde-pendent world. Rifkin demonstrates that in a globalized economy that pooling resources, trust, sharing risks, and revenue streams in network-based relationships are necessary to succeed. Focusing on the creation of the European Union, he documents its creation as a politi-cal vehicle that could manage conflicts and competing agendas in order to promote peace and flourishing of Europeans. To accomplish this European nation-states have pooled their resources to compete with others for power by operating not on geographic planes, but rather planetary fields which allows it to manage changing human activity in global networks. This involves address-ing concerns of civil society in a world increasingly ruled by corporations and governments. Rifkin then finds one of the biggest impediments achieving the European Dream is prejudice against immigrants and foreigners, though, they are needed to maintain the quality of life Europeans are accustomed to as Europeans begin to age and die out due to low fertility rates. Despite this backlash the European Dream supports cultural diversity through the recognition of human rights of others and the promo-tion of empathy. As this part continues, Rifkin returns to his comparative analysis of the United States and the European Union oppositing views of the world which reveals that the United States is far more willing and able to resort to violence than the European Union is when resolving domestic and international conflicts. He points out, however, that Europeans unlike Americans favor precautionary measures because some proposed avenues

Page 2: The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream

22 Book Reviews

The Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of EuropeVolume 5 • Number 2 • Fall/Winter 2005

of scientific pursuits, such as making genetically modi-fied foods, introducing genetically modified organisms, and producing certain chemical products, should not be entertained due to their threat to life. The part ends with Rifkin addressing the social conditions needed to univer-salize the European Dream.

The European Dream is the most important contribu-tion to scholarship which brings together anthropologi-cal views of the United States and the European Union to a broad popular audience. It also provides sufficient bibliographic references required to study both countries

and their dreams. Most importantly, Rifkin confronts the political-economic power bases that generates and supports structural exhaust features of the past and the present. Unfortunately, some parts of the book are repeti-tive and his selective use of economic statistics weakens his claim that European productivity suppresses American productivity because some statistics suggest that the oppo-site is the case. However, this book still provides valuable insights into the inner working of both countries in a bal-anced manner that undermines Americans’ ability to claim cultural superiority.

A Market Out of Place? Remaking Economic, Social, and Symbolic Boundaries in Post-Communist Lithuania. Pernille Hohnen. Oxford University Press. 2003. 164 pp. index. ISBN 0-19-926762-6.

Gediminas Lankauskas Concordia University

Among salient features of the ongoing systemic change in contemporary Eastern Europe is the expansion and institutionalization of informal trade and petty mercantile activity. Recently, such economic practices and their socio-cultural parameters have become the object of sustained scrutiny by anthropologists working in postsocialist set-tings.1 Pernille Hohnen’s monograph on market trading in today’s Lithuania—the first of its kind—is a signifi-cant contribution to this growing body of ethnographic research and writing.

Focusing on Gariūnai, a marginalized open-air “bazaar” on the outskirts of the capital Vilnius, Hohnen explores the ways in which various market activities become implicated in reconfigurations of gender identities and ethnic subjectivities, as well how those activities articulate with altering notions of work and morality. The author’s argument coheres around boundary remaking, broadly conceived, which she sees as a key strategy used by Lithu-anians to negotiate the disorienting social environment engendered by the nation’s current “transition” from authoritarian socialism to liberal capitalism. She suggests that the process of “transitioning” can be productively examined and critiqued through “new” institutions such as Gariūnai, a market place that speaks, more abstractly, to the “spatial, social, and symbolic reterritorialization” (p. 3) of Lithuania after Communist rule.

Hohnen proposes that emerging in the nation’s post-Soviet economy are “new” ways of conceptualizing commodities, money, and exchange, which she presents as evidence of “the development of a new economic

field” (p. 31). While there is certainly much that is new in this field, I find its novelty exaggerated. Many economic practices, knowledges, and identities that appear unprec-edented, upon closer examination, turn out to be “social-ist” or “old.” In the wake of state socialism, the categories of “old” and “new,” of change and non-change, as it were, often coexist in mutually constitutive dialectic and deserve our equal consideration. This monograph could be more attentive to ways in which Lithuania’s Soviet past and its post-Soviet present interplay and inform each other at the Gariūnai market and in the society at large that surrounds it.

Hohnen’s study offers a rich account of Gariūnai trad-ers, but says surprisingly little about the market’s purchas-ers. Selling implies buying and vice versa; one transac-tion is inconceivable without the other. The author does mention in passing “Lithuanian, Latvian, and Belorussian middle-aged women…walking around the market with alert eyes and big carrier bags” (p. 17). Are the gender, nationality, and generation of these shoppers relevant? In another comment she points out that most sellers assumed a rather passive stance vis-à-vis their customers: “Goods were principally believed to be selling them-selves” (p. 56). An intriguing observation. But what does this merchant “passivity” bespeak? The author notes that buying at Gariūnai was less stigmatized than selling. This insight could potentially provide some clues as to sellers’ disengagement from shoppers. I was also left wondering how this seller-buyer distancing—a fact so reminiscent of Soviet retail—would fit into the monograph’s underlying argument of ever shifting boundaries. Some of then come across as being rather static.

In Chapters 3 and 4, Hohnen examines the multiple ways in which market traders generate, exchange, com-municate, conceal, and reconfigure their commercial expertise. The fine-grained description and smart analysis of merchants’ agency as it pertains to “reading,” knowing, and acting in the market is one of the greatest strengths of