Product Description

In a study that is original and timely, Eve Darian-Smith uses the Channel Tunnel between England and France to explore the shifting geographies of nationalism, postcolonialism, and legal autonomy in the formation of the European Union. Conducting ethnographic research in Kent, the county at the English mouth of the Tunnel, she looks at regional differences in feelings about Europe and at the vocabulary used in discussing the Tunnel. Visual representations--political cartoons, photographs, etchings--regarding the Tunnel are also examined.
Two hundred years after Napoleon planned to invade England via a tunnel, the completion in 1994 of a fast rail link between Great Britain and the European mainland symbolizes the disintegration of conventional state borders. While the Tunnel precariously affirms the ideal of a united Europe, it also brings to the fore questions of boundaries between the first and third worlds, colonizers and colonized, and the "East" and the "West." Bridging Divides is about much more than an engineering feat. By exploring historical narratives, tunnel stories, and legal myths, Darian-Smith's study shows the interconnections between people's memories of the past and current history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #770942 in Books
• Published on: 1999-10-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .85 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 273 pages

Review
"An outstanding book. . . .This book makes unique contributions to understandings of law, politics, globalization, and culture, making it one of the most inspired 'law and' books in recent years."--"Law and Politics Book Review

From the Inside Flap
"Bridging Divides is an exhilarating ethnography which uses its main research object--the Tunnel that now both connects and separates England and France--to open up a rich analytical window through which we can "see" such diverse themes as law and landscape, political and spatial relations, national identity and cultural hybridity, nation-state sovereignty and the European Union, transnationalism and neonationalism. Darian-Smith's sophisticated analysis will show the new generation of social scientists how far a creative methodology can take us in understanding our societies."--Boaventura de Sousa Santos, University of Wisconsin, Madison

"Darian-Smith literally and figuratively ventures into new territory in this perceptive book. Visually sensitive and politically perceptive, she inspects everything from law to gardens as she explores the variable and metaphoric placement of cultural meanings in objects and practices. A bold experiment that addresses the way national identities and boundaries are being reconfigured and revised today."--Sally Falk Moore, Harvard University

"Eve Darian-Smith takes the building of the cross-channel tunnel between England and France as an occasion to rethink the constitution of nationalism and national identity. Theoretically rich and empirically rigorous, Bridging Divides is a model of interdisciplinary legal scholarship and a must read for anyone wanting a glimpse over the horizon at cutting-edge research.--Austin Sarat, Amherst College

From the Back Cover
"Bridging Divides is an exhilarating ethnography which uses its main research object (the Tunnel that now both connects and separates England and France (to open up a rich analytical window through which we can "see" such diverse themes as law and landscape, political and spatial relations, national identity and cultural hybridity, nation-state sovereignty and the European Union, transnationalism and neonationalism. Darian-Smith's sophisticated analysis will show the new generation of social scientists how far a creative methodology can take us in understanding our societies." (Boaventura de Sousa Santos, University of Wisconsin, Madison)