The Great Catalyst: European Union Project and Lessons from Greece and Turkey

Abstract

This book presents two different tales of the European Union to provide an empirical challenge to oversimplified assumptions behind the neoliberal orthodoxy in policymaking: Favorable experience of the EU-candidate Turkey, and the regrettable venture of the EU-member Greece. The fact that these two neighboring countries with similar cultures have had vastly different experiences with the European Union suggests that the EU functions as a catalyst of change in the countries that associate with it, but this impact could be negative as well as positive depending on the role the EU plays. Political economist Bülent Temel presents a lucid analysis of the Turkish and Greek encounters with the EU—based on contributions from a diverse range of social sciences; economics, game theory, finance, political science and sociology.