Alternative Theoretical Approaches to Post-Communist Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe
In: Geography and Geology Faculty Publications, 2003
academicJournal
Zugriff:
Since the start of post-communist transformations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), there have been disagreements about the best strategies to follow and policies to implement the reforms.1 Similar disagreements have existed in practical and theoretical interpretations of these transformations. These differences have reflected various and often conflicting understandings of the previous state socialist system, the existing political-economic situation and the nature of post-communist reforms by economists, political scientists, sociologists, historians and members of other disciplines and suggest the complexity, diversity and unpredictability of post-communist developments. Views have also differed significantly within the individual disciplines. Two basic groups of approaches to the study of post-communist developments in CEE can be recognized. First are the teleological “transition” approaches, also known as “transitology,”2 typically associated with neoliberal and neoclassical economic interpretations. Second are the non-teleological alternative “transformation” interpretations stemming from evolutionary and institutional economics, the analysis of networks of economic embeddedness, and Marxist political economy and regulation theory. The view of recent changes in CEE as transformations rather than transitions emphasizes actual processes rather than destinations3 and it differs from the neoliberal and neoclassical notion of transitions dominated by the theoretical agenda of modernization theory.4Proponents of “transitology” argue that economies of CEE countries are undergo ing a relatively unproblematic shift from a command to a capitalist economy and from communism to democracy. The analyses and critique of “transitology” have been carried out elsewhere.5 The goal of this paper is to review and evaluate select alternative theoretical interpretations and approaches to the CEE post-communist transformations in light of my research in the region. Before turning to alternative explanations of post-communist ...
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Alternative Theoretical Approaches to Post-Communist Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Pavlinek, Petr |
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Zeitschrift: | Geography and Geology Faculty Publications, 2003 |
Veröffentlichung: | DigitalCommons@UNO, 2003 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
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