8_Literature.indd 345Literature – Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 64 (2015) (4) 345–353. L I T E R A T U R E Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 64 2015 (4) 345–353. Given that increasing socio-spatial polarisation is one of the cruelest realities of our times it is surprising how few larger projects have recently been devoted to studying its mechanisms and outcomes. This is most likely related to the neoliberal hegemony of the 1990s and 2000s; however, especially since the 2008 global economic crisis a number of influential thinkers (Stiglitz, J. 2012; Krugman, P. 2012; Piketty, T. 2014; Harvey, D. 2014) have taken this until then dominat- ing regime under critical scrutiny. Yet such overarch- ing systemic critiques need to be complemented with more on-the-ground theoretical and empirical research to grasp how polarisation unfolds in various spaces as well as more generally. The large ongoing Marie Curie project ‘ITN RegPol² – Socio-economic and Political Responses to Regional Polarisation in Central and Eastern Europe’ (ITN RegPol² 2015) is undertaking such a task. Some of its fi rst results were recently published in a theme issue of the Hungarian Geographical Bulletin, summarised in the introductory article by the guest editor (Nagy, E. 2015). A good number of members of the above-men- tioned project contributed to the book Understanding geographies of polarization and peripheralization, al- though the list of contributors goes far beyond. With its eighteen contributions by as many as forty-one authors, including Ray Hudson, John Pickles, Adrian Smith, and Michael Woods, this is one of the richest volumes of its kind – certainly among those focusing on Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The book emerged from at least two identifi ed problems. On the one hand, empirical evidence in- dicates the study area has been particularly hit by growing socio-spatial polarisation (p. 1), which is def- initely the case in comparison with Western Europe and some other regions. On the other hand, “[up] until recently, spatial development in CEE has mainly been researched through the lenses of post-socialist transformation and modernization” (p. 2). Whereas the latt er has long been criticised (Müller, K. 1992) for its structural-evolutionary assumptions, whether – or at least to what extent – the socialist and in some cases the post-Soviet heritage still represent an impor- tant legacy is also debated in this volume, for instance in the contributions on Ukraine and Russia. Further, it is an explicit argument in the book that adopting novel “approaches enables new comparative perspec- tives to similar phenomena in other parts of Europe and the world” (p. 2), thus escaping its validity for CEE alone (the geographic denomination does not appear in the volume’s main title but in the subtitle). Relatedly, the anthology includes a respective case study on Northern Ireland, the Baltic Sea Region, as well as Central Asia. In spite of the above, it is not the aim of the book to authoritatively come up with an “overarching frame- work that claims to explain it all” (pp 12–13). Instead, the editors’ strategy to bring the diff erent perspectives into conversation is a relational approach. Thus there is still a certain level of consensus reached: for several authors regional peripheralisation “is not only the simultaneity of a number of features constituting the formation of peripheries, such as distance, economic weakness and lack of political power, but is oft en also the dynamic formation of core and peripheral regions Lang, T. et al. (eds.): Understanding Geographies of Polarization and Peripheralization: Perspectives from Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2015. 352 p. Literature – Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 64 (2015) (4) 345–353.346 overlapping at different spatial scales” (pp 1–2). Consequently, “applying these conceptual notions allows a process-based, relational understanding of up-to-date forms of spatial diff erentiation in CEE and off ers opportunities for spatial research circumvent- ing dichotomous ideas of urban and rural, of central and peripheral” (p. 2), and so on. The book is structured in four parts. The fi rst one presents a series of tools for grasping the fragmented complexity of agency and the multitude of actors re- lated to region-building. This includes refl ections on the theoretical backgrounds of peripheralities as well as methodological considerations. Some of the contri- butions in this part (on Thuringia, Central Asia, and Northern Ireland) form a series of ethnographically grounded accounts of social constructions of periph- eralities at the level of everyday lives. The second part of the volume sets out to exam- ine the role of diverse socio-political agents in the production of peripheries. The authors adopt an ac- tor-centred perspective and elaborate upon ways in which peripheralisation is being perceived, lived, and reproduced. In this regard these contributions take up the constructivist challenge of the volume’s fi rst part and provide dense accounts of peripheralisation and polarisation processes in CEE. One example is the Hungary-focused case study by Judit Timár, Erika Nagy, Gábor Nagy, and Gábor Velkey. For them peripheralisation appears as a process of making and entering various forms of dependencies, interwoven with weakening integrative social mecha- nisms. They argue that peripherality and marginality mutually support and strengthen each other through local actors’ strategies. Based on their rich fi eldwork in four distinct rural regions of Hungary an excellent account of institutional practices of neoliberal capital- ism at work is provided, showing that the European division of labour and a shrinking state in the aft er- math of the 2008 economic crisis forced local agents to enter relationships based on dependence. The book’s third part is devoted to studies of a frag- mented and relational construction of peripheralities. Authors here provide dense quantitative analyses of peripheralisation at national or supra-national levels, and discuss tools of measuring as well as assessing divergent processes of polarisation and cohesion. The contributions in the fourth and fi nal part of the volume have a slightly more positive tone, discussing diff erent modalities and relations between cores and peripheries. These authors deal with how responses to peripheralisation can be devised, implemented, and assessed. Such more optimistic accounts stem from Estonia, Slovakia, and eastern Germany. Following the trend of recent years, also this an- thology does not have a concluding summary or com- parative analysis; although due to the explicit lack of ambition to come up with an overarching framework (which is understandable) such a separate chapter is perhaps not necessary. While most contributions are equipped with tables, diagrams and maps, there are no images or photos in the book. This is of course hardly any harsh critique, but the authors’ “hope for vigorous future debates in academia and society on the causes and eff ects of polarization and peripher- alization” (p. 16) could perhaps be easier fulfi lled by having added at least a few illustrations or images of (so-called) peripheries. This not least given the char- acter of the contributions, the majority of which tends to be qualitatively oriented. Even the front-page image – a small detail from Budapest’s Castle District – portrays litt le of the se- verity of living conditions that much of the popula- tion in this large study area is facing. These minor criticisms do not change the overall impression of a well-researched and well-edited anthology on a still too under-researched subject. This challenging and extensive contribution, rich in novel theoretical and empirical approaches alike, is highly recommended to all, not least in CEE itself where the subject is still largely approached from classic and quantitative angles. Péter Balogh REFERENCES Harvey, D. 2014. Seventeen contradictions and the end of capitalism. Oxford, Oxford University Press. ITN RegPol² October 26, 2015-last update. About ITN RegPol². Homepage of ITN RegPol². Available: htt p://www.regpol2.eu/ December 27, 2015. Krugman, P. 2012. End this depression now! New York, W.W. Norton & Company. Müller, K. 1992. ‘Moderrnising’ Eastern Europe: Theoretical problems and political dilemmas. European Journal of Sociology 33. (1): 109–150. Nagy, E. 2015. Discussing inequalities from the periphery. Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 64. (3): 167–170. Piketty, T. 2014. Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press. Stiglitz, J.E. 2012. The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future. New York and London, W.W. Norton & Company.