State and Society in Post-Socialist Economies

State and Society in Post-Socialist Economies PDF

Author: J. Pickles

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2008-01-17

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0230590926

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State and Society in Post-Socialist Economies focuses on the reform economies of post-socialist Europe. It looks at how various projects of communism that emerged in have been and are still being dismantled and recomposed by alternative visions, institutions and practices of capitalist market economies and democratic polities.

After the 'Socialist Spring'

After the 'Socialist Spring' PDF

Author: George Last

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2009-03-01

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 1845459016

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Historical analysis of the German Democratic Republic has tended to adopt a top-down model of the transmission of authority. However, developments were more complicated than the standard state/society dichotomy that has dominated the debate among GDR historians. Drawing on a broad range of archival material from state and SED party sources as well as Stasi files and individual farm records along with some oral history interviews, this book provides a thorough investigation of the transformation of the rural sector from a range of perspectives. Focusing on the region of Bezirk Erfurt, the author examines on the one hand how East Germans responded to the end of private farming by resisting, manipulating but also participating in the new system of rural organization. However, he also shows how the regime sought via its representatives to implement its aims with a combination of compromise and material incentive as well as administrative pressure and other more draconian measures. The reader thus gains valuable insight into the processes by which the SED regime attained stability in the 1970s and yet was increasingly vulnerable to growing popular dissatisfaction and economic stagnation and decline in the 1980s, leading to its eventual collapse.

The Capitalist Transformation of State Socialism

The Capitalist Transformation of State Socialism PDF

Author: David Lane

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-11-20

Total Pages: 481

ISBN-13: 1135008809

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David Lane outlines succinctly yet comprehensively the development and transformation of state socialism. While focussing on Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe, he also engages in a discussion of the Chinese path. In response to the changing social structure and external demands, he outlines different scenarios of reform. He contends that European state socialism did not collapse but was consciously dismantled. He brings out the West’s decisive support of the reform process and Gorbachev’s significant role in tipping the balance of political forces in favour of an emergent ascendant class. In the post-socialist period, he details developments in the economy and politics. He distinguishes different political and economic trajectories of countries of the former USSR, the New Member States of the European Union, and China; and he notes the attempts to promote further change through ‘coloured’ revolutions. The book provides a detailed account not only of the unequal impact of transformation on social inequality which has given rise to a privileged business and political class, but also how far the changes have fulfilled the promise of democracy promotion, wealth creation and human development. Finally, in the context of globalisation, the author considers possible future political and economic developments for Russia and China. Throughout the author, a leading expert in the field, brings to bear his deep knowledge of socialist countries, draws on his research on the former Soviet Union, and visits to nearly all the former state socialist countries, including China.

The Socialist System

The Socialist System PDF

Author: Janos Kornai

Publisher: Clarendon Press

Published: 1992-05-28

Total Pages: 676

ISBN-13: 0191521604

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This book provides a comprehensive account of the structure, conduct, and performance of the centrally planned economies of Eastern Europe, the USSR, Communist China and the Marxist LDCs, looking at 26 nations in all. The author focuses on reform, perhaps the most important issue facing countries such as the USSR, Poland, Hungary, and China. Bureaucracy, soft budget constraints, markets, and the nature of the socialist state are the central issues that arise in the course of reforming a socialist economy. The first half of the book deals with 'classical socialism' and provides a theoretical summary of the main features of a now closed period of history. The second half deals with the processes of reform and concludes that the reform of classical socialist systems is doomed to failure as they are unable to renew themselves internally.

Building a Trustworthy State in Post-Socialist Transition

Building a Trustworthy State in Post-Socialist Transition PDF

Author: J. Kornai

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-12-25

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 1403981108

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Building a Trustworthy State in Post-Socialist Transition considers the problems and prospects for creating trustworthy and reliable public institutions in the aftermath of the transition from socialism in Central and Eastern Europe. The volume draws on the experience of those who have lived through and studied the transition and contrasts their insights with those of generalist scholars who study government accountability and democracy. The contributions originated in the Collegium Budapest project on Honesty and Trust: Theory and Experience in the Light of the Post-Socialist Transition, organized by János Kornai and Susan Rose-Ackerman. A second volume entitled, Creating Social Trust in Post-Socialist Transition , is being published simultaneously.

The Politics of Developed Socialism

The Politics of Developed Socialism PDF

Author: Donald Kelley

Publisher: Praeger

Published: 1986-08-02

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13:

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In his new study, Kelley looks at the emergence of what Soviet theorists call a developed socialist society and at the recent political, economic, and social developments, up to and including those of the early days of the Gorbachev administration, that are contributing to this newest adaptation of Marxism-Leninism. His central premise is that the Soviet leadership, having arrived at a turning point created by the impact of the scientific and technological revolution, has recognized the inability of existing policies and institutions to meet the needs of a rapidly maturing system. Kelley finds that, both as a theoretical stage in the evolution toward communism and as a reflection of changes in Soviet society, the concept of developed socialism presents a picture of political and social modernization that is in many ways the counterpart of the Western theory of post-industrial society. He also notes a new, seemingly more flexible Soviet approach to ideology as such. The Soviets, he observes, look upon the theory of developed socialism itself as being in an evolving state, treating it as an open-ended model of future economic and social transformation whose outlines are only gradually becoming discernable.

Changing Lives in Laos

Changing Lives in Laos PDF

Author: Vanina Bouté

Publisher: NUS Press

Published: 2017-04-21

Total Pages: 473

ISBN-13: 981472226X

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Changes in the character of the political regime in Laos after 2000, a massive influx of foreign investment, and disruptions to rural life arising from improved communications and new forms of mobility within and across the borders have produced a major transformation. Alongside these changes, a group of young scholars carried out studies that document the rise of a new social, cultural and economic order. The contributions to this volume draw on original fieldwork materials and unpublished sources, and provide fresh analyses of topics ranging from the structures of power to the politics of territoriality and new forms of sociability in emerging urban spaces.

The Transformation of State Socialism

The Transformation of State Socialism PDF

Author: D. Lane

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2007-09-12

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 0230591027

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This book considers aspects of transformation of former state socialist countries: social and economic outcomes; forces in the transformation process; problems of consolidation of the new regimes;and other scenarios. It also looks at alternative types of society that might replace state socialism, particularly state capitalism and market socialism.

Constructing Capitalism

Constructing Capitalism PDF

Author: Kazimierz Poznański

Publisher: Westview Press

Published: 1992-08-04

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13:

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"The product of an international political economy colloquium series held at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies"--Page vii. Continued by: The evolutionary transition to capitalism. 1995. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Mobilities in Socialist and Post-Socialist States

Mobilities in Socialist and Post-Socialist States PDF

Author: K. Burrell

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-09-23

Total Pages: 263

ISBN-13: 1137267291

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This interdisciplinary collection explores what mobility meant, and still means, in the specific contexts of Soviet and East European socialist and post-socialist societies. Together the chapters consider diverse practices of mobility and their different contexts of power, resistance and inequality.