What Does Europe Want? The Union and Its Discontents

The European Union’s uncertain fate and the reshaping of Europe are the focal points of this essay collection, made up of alternating selections from controversial philosopher Žižek (The Parallax View) and political theorist Horvat. Alexis Tsipras, leader of Greece’s Syriza party, also provides several contributions, including a foreword lamenting his country’s economic collapse. Žižek tends toward hyperbole, but his arguments are full of relevance and merit. His frequent digressions can be distracting or work brilliantly, as in a piece on debt cancellation that uses the story of Orpheus to illustrate the importance of grace and forgiveness. Horvat, for his part, dissects the possible fate of the EU’s newest member, Croatia, convincingly arguing that the EU needs Croatia’s validation, not the other way around. He also provides the book’s afterword, which addresses the European implications of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the 2014 political protests in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each philosopher’s particular deployment of current events, popular culture, and political history lends the book a conversational tone, but the connective tissue between the essays is the authors’ understanding of the bigger picture in Europe. Žižek and Horvat provide a deeply engaging and insightful polemic on how Europe went wrong—and how it can recover. [em](Dec.) [/em]