Transformation theory and socio-economic change in Central and Eastern Europe. A conceptual framework (original) (raw)
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Transformation in East Central Europe. 1918 and 1989 – a Comparative Approach
European Review of History, 2016
The authors of the introduction to this special issue argue for a historicization of the concept of transformation by broadening our understanding of it to decrease its teleological spin. This allows us to discard the “zero hour” narrative and to rather consider phenomena that exist long before a “turn” or “revolution” accelerates the transformation process. The closely related terms of “continuity” and “discontinuity” can be relieved of their mandatory dialectical logic by introducing the concept of “adaptation” as an analytical instrument in order to explain what happens after a certain turning point. Consequently, a historicization of the concept of transformation, as the briefly presented case studies show, entails detachment from apodictic periodization and the narration of quasi-mechanized progress in order to specify every single field of accelerated change. However, this does not necessarily limit the usefulness of the concept, as examining individual cases using specific criteria and comparing and bundling them will contribute to a better understanding of societies in transformation as a whole.
After Twenty Years – Reasons and Consequences of the Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe
The Majority of the papers in the present volume are the result of a series of seminars which took place between autumn 2007 and spring 2009 at the Department of the History of Eastern Europe at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, headed by Dr. Tamás Krausz, under the auspices of the doctoral programme entitled ‘The History of Eastern Europe first in a wider historical context and then concentrating on the processes of the past twenty years. "The project helps young researchers to join in with the international debate on their subject matter and to foster the emergence of a common discourse. We believe it is important that the young generation of historians born around or after the transition who did not live through the pre-1989 period as children or young contemporaries should come to play an increasing role in this discourse. A certain distance in time is an important condition for a deeper understanding of the events and processes of the time. Not only do we gain access to the sources for this exciting sequence of historical phenomena – a distance in time also allows the subject matter to shift from the boundary zone between political sciences and history clearly into the sphere of the latter, thus becoming free of daily political interests. We trust that the authors of the present volume will become active participants in shaping this process."
The authors of the introduction to this special issue argue for a historicization of the concept of transformation by broadening our understanding of it to decrease its teleological spin. This allows us to discard the “zero hour” narrative and to rather consider phenomena that exist long before a “turn” or “revolution” accelerates the transformation process. The closely related terms of “continuity” and “discontinuity” can be relieved of their mandatory dialectical logic by introducing the concept of “adaptation” as an analytical instrument in order to explain what happens after a certain turning point. Consequently, a historicization of the concept of transformation, as the briefly presented case studies show, entails detachment from apodictic periodization and the narration of quasi-mechanized progress in order to specify every single field of accelerated change. However, this does not necessarily limit the usefulness of the concept, as examining individual cases using specific criteria and comparing and bundling them will contribute to a better understanding of societies in transformation as a whole.
The Eastern European and Baltic scope of transformation processes
Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology
This paper is a way to present the transformation processes, which have been taking place in Eastern Europe and Baltic states since the end of 20th century up to now. It is an attempt to describe the main difficulties, which appear on the way of changes and to find their origins. The main idea is that the process of transformation, which began the same way for all countries, developing and moving through time, acquires its own features and peculiarities, which leads to the formation of a different, dissimilar version of the social structure and economic model.
Post-Soviet Transformation: Trends, Ambivalences and New Paradigms
The fate of the transformation in post-soviet societies was found to be relatively troubled and contradicted with the expectations of those societies under post-communist reality. The troubles with transformation emerged in almost all dimensions of transition; basically, here I mean political, economic and socio-cultural contexts of changes. In the context of political transformation, problems and obstacles emerged in the crisis of democracy and mostly in the crisis of legitimacy of representative democracy where new elites who emerged after the collapse of Soviet Union passionately activated Robert Michel’s most prominent theory of “Iron law of oligarchy”. Economic transformation and emergence or “export” of both economic and cultural logic of liberal model of capitalism resulted with deep alienation and with introduction of social Darwinism as a standard social norm in society, and last but not at least, socio-cultural transformation based on the model of atomized and individualized society which alienated people from politics and declared social justice and solidarity as anachronistic discourses which finally created unequal society where rich and poor class live in different and distant realities. This article is an attempt of critical evaluation of post-soviet transitions, particularly of those trends and paradigms and controversies linked with this process Keywords: Post-soviet; Transformation; Trends; Neoliberalism; Social Change; Capitalism; Society; Social Darwinism; Class; State
Three Models of Post-Communist Transformation and Lessons Learned
Central European Business Review, 2021
The paper analyses the experience of post-communist transformation. It focuses on preconditions and causes of differences in the success of this process in different countries. The paper, in contrast to the traditional basic division of transformation strategies into gradualist and radical, brings a new perspective. Defining a third, spontaneous transformation trajectory, characteristic of countries unsuccessful in transformation. The paper also points to examples of the transition between individual transformation trajectories and strategies (especially on the example of Slovakia and Georgia).
INSTITUTIONAL AND SOCIO-CULTURAL DIMENTIONS OF POST-COMMUNIST TRANSFORMATIONS
RESEARCH, CHALLENGES AND DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS IN THE AREA OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, 2020
SUMMARY Institutional and socio-cultural dimensions of political transformations in post-communist societies are analysed. Their content examines the processes of institutionalization and formalization of the new conventional rules (institutions) of the political elites’ struggle for power, the formation of democratic values and behaviours. It is specified that the processes of mediatization, discursivization of political processes, destructive manipulative technologies, and the spread of populist ideologies contribute to the de-legitimization and de-formalization of democratic institutions and create grounds for strengthening the authoritarian tendencies in modern transit societies. It is emphasized that the results of socio-political transformations can be either the consolidation of the democratic regime or the formation and consolidation of a new model of the authoritarian regime. It is found out that the effectiveness of the transformation process is largely determined by the socio-cultural characteristics of the society, the intensity of changes in the value-based and symbolic systems of the society. Another important factor in the success of the transformation process is the formation of the nation-state and common identity at the macro-level of the society. The peculiarities and difficulties of the democratic transformations in Ukraine, their cyclical nature and incomplete state are outlined. The interdependence of the processes of consolidation of the new regime and the formation of the nation-state identity in Ukraine is substantiated.