The State-Led Transition to Liberal Capitalism: Neoliberal, Organizational, World-Systems, and Social Structural Explanations of Poland's Economic Success1 (original) (raw)

Neoliberals argue that rapid liberalization and privatization can transform postcommunist economies into Western-style capitalist systems. Organizational sociologists argue that these policies pro- duce a unique variety of capitalism, while world-systems theorists argue that they lead to underdevelopment. This article advances a social structural alternative in a crucial case. Poland's relative eco- nomic success resulted from prolonged state ownership and an

Sign up for access to the world's latest research.

checkGet notified about relevant papers

checkSave papers to use in your research

checkJoin the discussion with peers

checkTrack your impact

Crises of the communist and neoliberal orders 30 years later: A structural comparison between 1975 and 2019 Poland

Social Science Information, 2020

This article proposes to look at the current moment in the recent history of the so-called Central-European countries, with Poland as a critical case study, through a structural comparison with an earlier historical cycle, that is one of the first three decades of the communist rule in the region. Thus, I propose to compare the social and economic situation in Poland of circa 1975 with that of 2019, so 30 years after the establishment of a new given political order (30 years after 1945 and 1989 respectively). The paper will offer a general overview of the trajectory of Poland in the postwar era, based primarily on the perspective of the world-system theory and that of the critical sociology of elites, one which will also point to the essential structural contexts of the post-communist dynamics of society. This paper will be based on a basic observation: even if both the 1970s and late 2010s can be considered as periods of relative political stabilization and economic growth for the region as such, and Poland in particular, these countries are, at the same time, subjected to a considerable and even increasing economic dependence on the Western core. In the conclusions, it is argued that the proposed comparative approach, taking into account both an earlier historical cycle and the broader structural dependency of the region, may allow to cast a new light on the nature of current dynamics in Polish politics as well as on the possible future trajectories of the country.

(2006) Historicizing transition: the Polish political economy in a period of global structural change – Eastern Central Europe’s passive revolution?

This paper develops a critical international political economy analysis of the processes that we commonly understand as globalization and their application in the development of Poland's transition from state socialism. It does so by tracing the rise of social forces shaped by the restructuring of social relations of production and the form of state in Poland. The paper argues that a series of important social shifts occurred to move Poland towards a neoliberal strategy of capitalist accumulation with the failure of state-socialism as a development project and the uncoupling of the social basis of Communist Party hegemony. It is social forces most intimately associated with transnational capital, irrespective of their party or social position, that are most successful in the struggle over competing reform strategies. These strategies eventually coalesce through material and ideological changes associated with a new openness to transnationalized circuits of capital.

Too Much Shock, Not Enough Therapy: Transnational Capital and the Social Implications of Poland's Ongoing Transition to a Market

Competition & Change, 2007

In this article, an argument is presented for the return of labour to centre stage in the critical study of transition. The transition to capitalism in Eastern Central Europe generally, and Poland in particular, is discussed and the negative social impacts of transnational capital in post-communist development and the reconstitution of the Polish state in favour of (transnational) capital interrogated, through an exploration of the ever-deeper embedding of neoliberalization. There has been a reworking of the institutional infrastructures where the communist and post-communist political economy was grounded and transnationally oriented social forces in the EU continue to export the core of the neoliberal deregulatory programme to the east. Enlargement measures have further embedded a highly selective application of Europeanisation in what is becoming an increasingly vituperative variant of neoliberalism. The article concludes by assessing the recent neo-populist turn in Poland and how this might be reconciled with neoliberal strategies.

Economic Crisis as a Factor of the Neoliberal Policy in Poland

Prakseologia, 2017

The aim of the article is to present how three main economic crises (the 1989 transition-related crisis, the 1997 Asian crisis and the 2008 financial crises) had an impact on the consolidation of neoliberal policy in Poland. The reader will be acquainted with the political context of the introduction of free market reforms from the early days of liberal democracy. Moreover, the main arguments of the liberal elite, who remain the main supporters of analyzed hegemony, will be presented. The article provides also information on alternative scenarios of socio-economical development in Poland after the collapse of the system of real socialism. These considerations may constitute a starting point for further discussion on the popularity of illiberal parties in Poland and Central Europe.

From socialist Solidarity to neo-populist neoliberalisation? The paradoxes of Poland's post-communist transition

Capital & Class, 2007

Poland. The Kaczynski government contains a disparate group of ideological positions with a shared antagonism to the preceding neoliberal and post-Solidarity political mainstream. With Poland in the vanguard of neoliberal post-communist transition, the paper sets out to consider whether recent events signal a clear and decisive rejection of neoliberalisation despite the absence of a serious left alternative. It argues that the former Solidarity opposition and state-socialist social forces have been co-opted into reproducing neoliberalism, while the neo-populists, although rhetorically radical, have instead contributed to the reinforcement of neoliberalisation.

Loading...

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.