Download or read book State Socialism in Eastern Europe written by Eszter Bartha and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-07-10 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together a diverse set of scholars to address the long theoretical, conceptual and political debate on the interpretation of “actually existing” socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. While the major paradigms – totalitarianism, neo-totalitarianism, revisionism, post-revisionism, modernization, and the world-system analysis – are well known in the Western (English-language) literature, the concept of state socialism, which has strong theoretical roots in Hungary (going back to the works of György Lukács and István Mészáros) received less international attention. This book contributes to a productive discussion about viable alternatives to capitalism by introducing and theoretically elaborating on the concept and practice of state socialism, highlighting the historical significance of Hungary’s experiment with the “new economic mechanism” of 1968. It generates a common point of reference for various generations of anti-systemic thinkers, scholars, and activists to move beyond Cold War simplifications and ideological divides, and contributes to the discussion about anti-capitalist alternatives, which are relevant today for the global left. The chapter “Dance Around a ‘Sacred Cow’: Women’s Night Work and the Gender Politics of the Mass Worker in State-Socialist Hungary and Internationally” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
Download or read book Labor in State Socialist Europe 1945 1989 written by Marsha Siefert and published by Central European University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Labor regimes under communism in East-Central Europe were complex, shifting, and ambiguous. This collection of sixteen essays offers new conceptual and empirical ways to understand their history from the end of World War II to 1989, and to think about how their experiences relate to debates about labor history, both European and global. The authors reconsider the history of state socialism by re-examining the policies and problems of communist regimes and recovering the voices of the workers who built them. The contributors look at work and workers in Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia. They explore the often contentious relationship between politics and labor policy, dealing with diverse topics including workers’ safety and risks; labor rights and protests; working women’s politics and professions; migrant workers and social welfare; attempts to control workers’ behavior and stem unemployment; and cases of incomplete, compromised, or even abandoned processes of proletarianization. Workers are presented as active agents in resisting and supporting changes in labor policies, in choosing allegiances, and in defining the very nature of work.
Download or read book Gender Politics and Everyday Life in State Socialist Eastern and Central Europe written by S. Penn and published by Springer. This book was released on 2009-11-23 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book showcases extensive research on gender under state socialism, examining the subject in terms of state policy and law; sexuality and reproduction; the academy; leisure; the private sphere; the work world; opposition activism; and memory and identity.
Download or read book The Collapse of State Socialism written by Bartolomiej Kaminski and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-14 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does the abrupt collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe arise only from errors in implementing the policy of state socialism, leaving the concept itself still a potentially valid one? Bartlomiej Kaminski argues to the contrary: state socialism is a fundamentally defective idea that was well carried out, enabling it to exist until its accumulated shortcomings made its survival extremely difficult. How did the flawed state-socialist system endure for so long? Why is it failing now? In answering these questions, Kaminski, who is both an economist and a political analyst, proposes a general theory and then applies it to the case of Poland. Contending that the breakdown of state socialism results from symbiosis of the state and the economy, the book describes how communist governments searched for tools that would replace the market mechanism and the rule of law. Doomed in advance by the absence of autonomy and competition, this search generated new crises by undermining the state's capacity to suppress individual interests and to direct the economy. Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Download or read book Experimental Cinemas in State Socialist Eastern Europe written by Dr Ksenya Gurshtein and published by . This book was released on 2021-12-20 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Was there experimental cinema behind the Iron Curtain? What forms did experiments with film take in state socialist Eastern Europe? Who conducted them, where, how, and why? These are the questions answered in this volume, the first of its kind in any language. Bringing together scholars from different disciplines, the book offers case studies from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, former East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and former Yugoslavia. Together, these contributions demonstrate the variety of makers, production contexts, and aesthetic approaches that shaped a surprisingly robust and diverse experimental film output in the region. The book maps out the terrain of our present-day knowledge of cinematic experimentalism in Eastern Europe, suggests directions for further research, and will be of interest to scholars of film and media, art historians, cultural historians of Eastern Europe, and anyone concerned with questions of how alternative cultures emerge and function under repressive political conditions.
Download or read book The Capitalist Transformation of State Socialism written by David Lane and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-11-20 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Socialist Escapes written by Cathleen M. Giustino and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2013-03-01 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During much of the Cold War, physical escape from countries in the Eastern Bloc was a nearly impossible act. There remained, however, possibilities for other socialist escapes, particularly time spent free from party ideology and the mundane routines of everyday life. The essays in this volume examine sites of socialist escapes, such as beaches, campgrounds, nightclubs, concerts, castles, cars, and soccer matches. The chapters explore the effectiveness of state efforts to engineer society through leisure, entertainment, and related forms of cultural programming and consumption. They lead to a deeper understanding of state–society relations in the Soviet sphere, where the state did not simply “dictate from above” and inhabitants had some opportunities to shape solidarities, identities, and meaning.
Download or read book Cinema State Socialism and Society in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe 1917 1989 written by Sanja Bahun and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-07-25 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a comprehensive re-examination of the cinemas of the Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe during the communist era. It argues that, since the end of communism in these countries, film scholars are able to view these cinemas in a different way, no longer bound by an outlook relying on binary Cold War terms. With the opening of archives in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, much more is known about these states and societies; at the same time, the field has been reinvigorated by its opening up to more contemporary concepts, themes and approaches in film studies and adjacent disciplines. Taking stock of these developments, this book presents a rich, varied tapestry, relating specific films to specific national and transnational circumstances, rather than viewing them as a single, monolithic "Cold War Communist" cinema.
Download or read book The Transformation of State Socialism written by D. Lane and published by Springer. This book was released on 2007-09-12 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Socialism Goes Global written by James Mark and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-12-23 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collectively written monograph is the first work to provide a broad history of the relationship between Eastern Europe and the decolonising world. It ranges from the late nineteenth to the late twentieth century, but at its core is the dynamic of the post-1945 period, when socialism's importance as a globalising force accelerated and drew together what contemporaries called the 'Second' and 'Third Worlds'. At the centre of this history is the encounter between the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe on one hand, and a wider world casting off European empires or struggling against western imperialism on the other. The origins of these connections are traced back to new forms of internationalism enabled by the Russian Revolution; the interplay between the first 'decolonisation' of the twentieth century in Eastern Europe and rising anti-colonial movements; and the global rise of fascism, which created new connections between East and South. The heart of the book, however, lies in the Cold War, when these contacts and relationships dramatically intensified. A common embrace of socialist modernisation and anti-imperial culture opened up possibilities for a new and meaningful exchange between the peripheries of Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Such linkages are examined across many different fields - from health to archaeology, economic development to the arts - and through many people - from students to experts to labour migrants -who all helped to shape a different form and meaning of globalisation.
Download or read book Women and State Socialism written by Alena Heitlinger and published by Springer. This book was released on 1979-06-17 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Elites After State Socialism written by John Higley and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2000 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This distinctive book presents valuable new research on the political and economic elites that have emerged in Central and Eastern Europe since the demise of state socialism. Integrating theoretically informed analysis with fresh empirical data, the contributors significantly enhance our understanding of the evolution and interplay of elites in the post-communist period. Leading experts explore the elite circulations, differentiations, and competitions that now underpin-- but in some countries also still inhibit--democratic stability and economic growth. A provocative concluding chapter assesses the century-long confrontation between elite theory and Marxism and where they stand today, after state socialismOs collapse.
Download or read book Central and Eastern Europe 1944 1993 written by Tibor Iván Berend and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An ambitious, comparative analysis of 'Eastern Bloc' economies during a period of revolutionary change.
Download or read book The Legacy of State Socialism and the Future of Transformation written by David Lane and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2002 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taking stock of the first decade of the transformation in the former Soviet bloc, this timely book explores the legacies of state socialism and attempts by once-communist countries to move toward a democratic, market-oriented system. Leading international scholars consider the ways traditions interact with other factors--both domestic and foreign--to influence the course of social, political, and economic change. With its blend of theory and case studies and its clear narrative, this book will be a valuable text for students of transition, Russian politics, and the transformation of Eastern Europe. Visit our website for sample chapters!
Download or read book Social Care under State Socialism 1945 1989 written by Sabine Hering and published by Verlag Barbara Budrich. This book was released on 2009-06-17 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the period of State Socialism in Eastern Europe (1945- 1989) Social Welfare was exercised on two levels: The dominant level was the system of governmental Social Policy, because individual and private structures of so - cial help were considered as a dispensable bourgeois tradition. According to this perception, social welfare should include an extensive system of support and social services, although, in reality, special groups of ́ ́asocials ́ ́ and ́ ́parasites ́ ́ were excluded. Although - except for Yugoslavia - social work as a profession was nearly totally eliminated, modulated forms of social care had to be provided, because people like handicapped, elderly or mentally disabled still were in need. There - fore, Social Care was realised on a subordinated level - mostly allocated to proximate vocations or organisations like teachers, nurses and mass organisations. Experts from the respective countries explain what it was like. Countries under scrutiny: Bulgaria, Czechoslowakia, GDR, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Soviet Union, Yugoslavia
Download or read book Elites and Classes in the Transformation of State Socialism written by David Lane and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The year 2011 marks the twentieth anniversary of the end of the Soviet Union. This may be an appropriate time to evaluate the adoption by previously state socialist societies of other economic and political models. The transition has sometimes been described in positive terms, as a movement to free societies with open markets and democratic elections. Others have argued that the transition has created weak, poverty-stricken states with undeveloped civil societies ruled by unresponsive political elites. Which is the more accurate assessment?David Lane examines a few of the theoretical approaches that help explain the trajectory of change from socialism to capitalism. He focuses on two main approaches in this volume - elite theories and social class. Theories dwelling on the role of elites regard the transformation from socialism to capitalism as a type of system transfer in which elites craft democratic and market institutions into the space left by state socialism. Lane contrasts this interpretation with class-based theories, which consider transformation in terms of revolution, and explain why such theories have not been considered the best way of framing the transition in the post-socialist states.While recognizing that elites can play important roles and have the capacity to transform societies, Lane contends that elite theories alone are inadequate to explain a system change that brings free markets. In contrast, he proposes a class approach in which two groups characterize state socialism: an administrative class and an acquisition class.
Download or read book Pleasures in Socialism written by David Crowley and published by Northwestern University Press. This book was released on 2010-10-31 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume shows how the rise of consumer culture took a unique form in Eastern Europe. It investigates the ways in which pleasurable activities were both a space in which these communist governments tried to insinuate themselves and thereby further expand the reach of their authority.
