On the Verge of Convergence: Social Stratification in Eastern Europe by Henryk s> Domanski (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS I75 having an air of nostalgia on the part of those who were there at the time or who have had theirword to sayon what was happening. School ofPolitics,International Relations MICHAEL WALLER andtheEnvironment, Keele University Domanski, Henryk. On the Verge of Convergence. SocialStratification in Eastern Europe.Central European University Press, Budapest, 2000. x + I65 pp. Tables. Figures.Bibliography.Index. [28.95; ['4.95. THE idea of the convergence of advanced industrialsocieties to a common typewas articulatedmost forcefullyin the I95os. At that time, however, critics of the thesis contended that a major divide existed between the communist societies and the capitalistones and that significantinstitutionaland cultural structures distinguished different types of capitalism (American, British, German and laterJapanese). Henryk Domanski'sbook returnsto the debate in the context of the transformationsof East Centralpost-communistsocieties in the early i990S and he poses the question of the extent to which there has been a convergence to market capitalism. The work focuses on social stratification in six countries Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russiaand Slovenia and is based on interviewsof random samples of the adult population in those countries which were conducted in I993 (Polandin I994). Domanski's study adds a social dimension to the literature on postcommunist transformation. He also attempts to compare the changes with those of the late I940s associatedwith communist industrializationand social change. A principal conclusion is that the changes associated with the consequences of communistrulewere much more radicalthan the movement to capitalismin the early I99os. Indeed, the latterdid not 'relax[. . .] rigidities and closuresin social space' (p. 39), classbarriersdid not become more fluid. Most of the social changes were a consequence of economic transformations which created new positions in the division of labour. When the effects of these changes aretakeninto account, in the earlypost communisttransformation period, 'the mobilityregimesremained stable'(p. 39). The collapse of communism has led to a decline in state allocation and the associatedpolitical transferof earningsin all the countriesstudiedhere with a consequent rise in income inequality. An interesting finding is that intergenerational movement in East Central Europe 'strongly resembles the general shape of basic distancesand rigiditiesin the [capitalist]West' (p. 62). While similaritieswere greaterthan differenceswith respectto social mobility in the six societies studied, economic inequalities increased between them. Averagefamilymoney income, forexample, in post-communistHungarywas 6.3 times greater than in Russia and the East-West gap in terms of family incomes was a massive I: I 2 (Russia:USA) (p. 7 ). A majordistinguishingfeatureof the East CentralEuropeanpolitical scene after the break-up of communism is the division between a 'leading triad' (Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland), which are rapidly converging to the patternsof stratificationtypicalof modern capitalistsocieties, and Russia and 176 SEER, 8o, I, 2002 Bulgaria. In Russia, the 'rules of reward [.. .] appeared completely at odds with the logic of post-industrialization'(p. I63). While the book presents much new knowledge about the early period of transformation, it might be questioned whether I993 is too early a date to generalize about the effects of transformation,as substantivechanges in the fieldof stratificationmighttakesome time to takeeffect.Also the authormight have takeninto account the levels of marketizationand contact with the West which occurred in the successfultriadwell before I989 which led to changes in stratificationin these counties (and not to the same extent in the others where change came later). He might have 'lagged' some of the data to take account of differences in timing. The tables provide useful percentage comparisons,but the reader is not told the absolute numbersfrom which the percentages are derived. Comparisons would also have been facilitated if otherstatisticaldata on the population, such as the size of occupationalgroups and their changes between I988 and I993, could have been added to the surveyresults.As to the random samplingof the respondents,it is not obvious to the readerwhy only 4,734 people were interviewedin the largestcountry, Russia, whereas 5,62I were selected in the much smaller state of the Czech Republic. Overall, the book contributespositivelyto our understandingof the process of transformationin Central Eastern Europe. It covers a relatively underresearchedarea and is a valuable contributionto stratificationstudies. There is a good bibliography to guide students wishing to pursue more general themes discussedin the book. Faculty ofSocialandPoliticalSciences DAVID LANE University ofCambridge Medvedev, Roy. Post-Soviet Russia...