Enlightenment, Enlargement, and the European Union

As the West's leading Marxist intellectual, Perry Anderson appears to be having a rather good recession. Anderson was quick to recognize both the triumph and the contradictions of what he terms "the neo-liberal ascendancy." Anderson' s fascinating new book of essays on Europe is framed by the Thatcherite-inspired deregulation of financial markets and the collapse of communism that initiated its ascendancy. If the book—which comprises several long essays—has one central theme, it is the confusions that have befallen the European Union (EU) as its architects wrestle with the contradictions in neoliberal capitalism. It could not be more timely. Reeling under the impact of the Southern European debt crises, the EU might well prove to be the Great Recession's biggest casualty of all.