Bridging Divides: The Channel Tunnel and English Legal Identity in the New Europe

Bridging Divides: The Channel Tunnel and English Legal Identity in the New Europe

926 Reviews / Journal of Government Information 27 (2000) 889 ± 929 many United Nations publications, the work is inexpensive and the value is far b...

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926

Reviews / Journal of Government Information 27 (2000) 889 ± 929

many United Nations publications, the work is inexpensive and the value is far beyond the price paid for the survey. Vivienne Monty Frost Library, York University Toronto, Ontario, Canada PII: S 1 3 5 2 - 0 2 3 7 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 2 5 2 - 5

Bridging Divides: The Channel Tunnel and English Legal Identity in the New Europe Eve Darian-Smith, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1999, 280 pages, ISBN 0-52021610-5 (US$50.00); ISBN 0-520-21611-3 (paper) (US$19.95) This work discusses how the underground physical linking of Europe to Great Britain (popularly known as ``The Chunnel''), combined with a greater economic and political attachment to the Continent, has led to an agonizing examination of what it really means to be English in modern Europe, particularly in its legal context. How can England be England if it has to bow to the rule of foreign bureaucrats in Brussels? It combines three themes of British history: the idea of a tunnel between Britain and France (that finally opened in 1994); the debate over how Great Britain should be integrated with the rest of Europe; and the notion (common among virtually all nations) of their own unique and superior way of life. Darien-Smith draws from the fields of anthropology and sociology for her research, but it is also very much a work of history. It focuses in particular on the area of Kent, where the English tunnel terminal is located. The author even sees England as being in a postcolonial phase, where it is now more open to the outside world. The English are worried as to how to control the influx of foreigners, diseases, and pests through this new line of transportation. Appendix 1 is a historical chronology of key dates, while Appendix 2 is ``An Analysis of European Union Survey Statistics on Attitudes toward the Channel Tunnel.'' Appendix 3 is ``A Summary of European Union Treaties, Legislation, and Agreements Relevant to the Channel Tunnel.'' The text is well documented with footnotes. The bibliography lists few government or intergovernmental organization publications, but since this is more a work of intellectual interpretation, there is probably not much harm done. The author, formerly a lawyer in Australia and currently a professor of anthropology at the University of California at Santa Barbara, has previously edited (with Peter Fitzgerald) Laws of the Postcolonial (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999). Although it is not mentioned, this book is probably a condensed version of the author's doctoral dissertation, Landscapes of Law: The Channel Tunnel and English Legal Identity in the New Europe (two volumes, Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1995). The tunnel's Internet website (http://www.eurotunnel.com/) needs links to a bibliography, the full text of publications, and a historical narrative of the project. For a recent book on this project one can read Drew Fetherston's The Chunnel: The Amazing Story of the Undersea

Reviews / Journal of Government Information 27 (2000) 889 ± 929

927

Crossing of the English Channel (New York: Random House, 1998). The item under review is suitable for law libraries, large academic libraries, and specialized collections. Daniel K. Blewett The Elizabeth M. Cudahy Memorial Library Loyola University Chicago 6525 North Sheridan Road Chicago, IL 60626, USA PII: S 1 3 5 2 - 0 2 3 7 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 2 5 4 - 9

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