The European Periphery and the Eurozone Crisis

This is an important book not just because it provides an original and convincing account for the way the Eurozone crisis played out across three different countries, but also because it combines insights from across comparative political economy and EU studies to produce a sophisticated conceptualization of how states and societies are shaped by European integration. - Rebecca Adler-Nissen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Dooley's book brilliantly addresses flaws in major arguments on the origins of the Euro-crisis. Rather than sorting countries into groups, Dooley recognizes the unique features of countries within the Euro-zone periphery that made them susceptible to the crisis in different ways; this susceptibility was driven, ironically, by their success in adopting EU banking reforms before and after the launch of the Euro. While the European project has promoted convergence, Dooley aptly identifies that Europeanization has led to a divergence in stable and sustainable financial development between the E(M)U's member-states, an outcome that has yielded dangerous consequences. - Alison Johnston, Associate Professor, Oregon State University, USA. Neil Dooley's book demonstrates impressively the strengths of a nuanced approach to the study of the European political economy, interweaving themes of diversity and commonality via a discussion of the asymmetric impact of the Eurozone crisis. This is of particular importance for current debates about 'core' and 'periphery' but also European capitalism more generally. Therefore, the book is of strong relevance for literatures on 'peripheral' Europe, the multiple developmental trajectories that constitute European capitalism, and EU crisis management failures. - Dr. Ian Bruff, Lecturer in European Politics, University of Manchester.