In this special issue an examination of the gendered implications of 'Fortress Europe', a methaphor for the closing of Europe's borders in the context of European unifcation. With the following articles: - Becoming the 'refugee': creation of a gendered subjectivity among male asylum seekers in Switzerland / by Anya Gass - 'Zijn Vlamingen dan ook niet goed geïntegreerd? Een kruispuntanalyse van integratievertogen in Vlaanderen vanuit het standpunt van moeders zonder papieren / by Tine Brouckaert - Gender and the integrationist turn': comparative perspectives on marriage migration in the UK and Sweden / by Suruchi Thapar-Björkert and Karin Borevi - Postcolonial queer critique in post-communist Europe: stuck in the Western progress narrative? / by Rasa Navickaite
This book examines the life and work of women who have reached positions of political power after the end of communism in Europe. It explores the roles they have adopted, the relationships they have cultivated, and the agendas they have pursued. This volume treats the issues comparatively, in six countries -- the Czech Republic, Germany (with a focus on the former GDR), Slovenia, Bulgaria, Poland, and Russia. It also includes interviews with and written statements by the very 'women in power' discussed in the first half of the book, giving voice to their common and divergent experiences as political actors within an environment of stormy economies and new foreign engagements, particularly with the European Union.