The Political Economy Of Eastern Europe 30 Years Into The Transition

By the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, in most parts of Eastern Europe, high expectations associated with postsocialist transition have been substituted by disillusionment. After 1990, Eastern Europe has been internationally treated with a low-interest acknowledgement of what was understood as a slow and erratic, but unquestionable process of integration in a Western-dominated world order. In the context of today's geopolitical reorganization, East European examples of authoritarian politics once again become discussed as significant reference points for Western and global politics. This book represents a contribution to this debate from a distinctive East European perspective: that of new left scholars and activists from the region, whose lifetime largely corresponds to the transformations of the postsocialist period, and who came to develop an understanding of their environment in terms of its relations to global capitalist processes. A both theoretical and empirical contribution, the book provides essential insights on topics conventionally associated with East European transition from privatization to the politicized slogans of corruption or civil society, and analyzes their connection to the newest reconfigurations of postsocialist capitalist regimes. As a contribution to contemporary debates on the present global socio-political transformation, this collection does not only seek to debate analytical statements, but also to change the field where analytical stakes are set, by adding perspectives that think Eastern Europe's global relations from within the regional context and its political stakes. Agnes Gagyi works on East European politics and social movements from the perspective of the region's long-term global integration. She is researcher on East European social movements at the University of Gothenburg, and member of the Working Group for Public Sociology "Helyzet" in Budapest. Ondřej Slačálek is a political scientist and journalist, he focuses on East European politics, nationalism and social movements. He works at Charles University, Prague. He is a regular collaborator of Czech new left journal A2/A2larm.

First published in 1998, this volume contributes to the debate after the fall of the Soviet Union on the transition of Eastern European, former Soviet countries to a market economy. The transition was an enterprise as daring in practice and historically unprecedented as it is an analytical laboratory subject to constant reflection. The first two chapters address foreign direct investment in Central and Eastern European countries. The rebuilding of social insurance systems is then addressed, with a focus on state pension schemes. The subsequent two chapters examine the political and demographic features of transition countries, highlighting media reform as a key aspect for the consolidation of a democratic, law-based, market economy and society. Focus then turns to Poland, the country which is considered to display the most progress in the political economy of transition. Finally, the controversial issue of the electoral successes of former Communist parties in Central and Eastern Europe is discussed.

This compact volume is meant as a modest contribution to the ongoing debate on how to transform in particular the radically reforming Eastern European economies into more productive sociopolitical organizations. Although my main focus here is on the economics of reform and east-west assistance, I have tried to embed the multiple technical aspects of restructuring such a resource alloca tion into the context of remaking Eastern Europe. That the volume coincides with the seminal transformations of the communist countries of Eastern Europe is, of course, not fortuitous. But I shall have much less to say about the politi cal transitions from communism to parliamentary democracy, except the ways in which the latter may bolster or hinder the hoped-for economic mutations. In taking stock of where I stand on the issue of "radical reform" of planned economics in general and the CMEA in particular, both still moving targets, I have benefited greatly from participation in formal and informal conferences on economic reform. The product has also profited from many informal discus sions and exchanges of views among friends and colleagues, including those entrusted with and purely interested in efforts on the overall topic of the study launched from within the broad context of the United Nations, my at times reluctant employer.

'This well-produced book is a worthy contribution to the burgeoning literature on the transition. The editor provides a useful introduction.' - Ian Jeffries, The Economic Journal '. . . provides a useful and readable introduction to many of the most important issues in the "transition process".' - Hugo Radice, Economics of Transition Why has industrial output fallen in Eastern Europe and is further decline inevitable? What lessons can be learned from the stablilization programmes of the first two years of the post-communist era? Should the transitional economies privatize quickly and where do they find the missing institutions essential to the proper working of capitalism? In seeking answers to these and other questions, The Political Economy of the Transition Process in Eastern Europe analyses the difficulties faced by nations attempting to move from a planned to a market economy with special emphasis on issues of macroeconomic stabilization and institutional change.

This volume in essence continues my recent contributions towards building up a better understanding of the wide range of obstacles besetting the transitions away from administrative planning in the former communist regimes in the eastern part of Europe. It is self-contained, however. As such, it specifically addresses issues revolving around how best to govern economies, and indeed societies more generally, that are undergoing fundamental structural transfor mation, and whether industrial policy can facilitate progressing with the vexing transformations that will have to be enacted over a protracted period of time. Because of the bewildering variety of hindrances that the managers of the transition have been confronted with, many of which were not even contem plated when the programs were first designed, regaining a measure of good governance, including notably good economic governance, is critical in formu lating a positive pOlitical economy of transition. Arguably most critical is steering the processes of destruction and creation-not 'creative destruction' in the Schumpeterian sense. In some cases, this requires reallocating decom missioned resources, both capital and labor, to new activities. Changing rules on the utilization of existing assets is evidently at the core of what the transi tion towards market-based economic systems should be all about Very often, however, this requires establishing new economic activities from domestic and foreign savings.

This thought-provoking book investigates the political and economic transformation that has taken place over the past three decades in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Through an examination of both the successes and shortcomings of post communist reform and the challenges ahead for the region, it explores the topical issues of economic transition and integration, and highlights lessons to be learned.

First published in 1997, this collection of articles and essays analyses the political economy of reform and change in Eastern Europe during the years of Gorbachev’s perestroika and the years immediately following the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Written by Polish economist Jan Winiecki, between 1984 and 1996, this work explores the issue of the feasibility of reform and change during the period of decline and collapse of communist economic order and, later, the emergence of the capitalist economic order in the post-communist Eastern Europe. Split into three parts, the work considers firstly the failures of Gorbachev’s political economy of reform, secondly the determining factors in the collapse of the Soviet system, and finally the feasibility of the systematic change which began in the wake of its collapse.