This book explores historically determined links between gender, nation-building and democratic political processes in contemporary Europe. Building on the growing body of theoretical literature on the gendered nature of nationalism, it offers a systematic examination of similarities and differences in the construction of gender and national identities in post-communist societies of Eastern and East Central Europe as well as established and 'stable' democracies of Western Europe.

This comparision is particularly relevant, and even urgent, given the enlargement of the European Union. The book points to some of the key sources of inevitable tensions in the future united Europe, which stem from different perceptions of national and gender roles in different parts of the continent.