State and Society in Post-Socialist Economies. Studies in Central and East European Europe by John Pickles (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 79I Pickles,John (ed.). StateandSociety inPost-Socialist Economies. Studies in Central and East European Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstokeand New York,2008. xvi + 281 pp. Map. Figures.Tables. Notes.Selected references. Index.£55.00. This collection coversa widecompass:in additionto theintroduction bythe editor, therearetwelve chapters, thefirst fiveofwhichfocuson theeconomy and sevenconsider'social mobilisation and economictransformation'. The editor suggests thattransformation consists offour consecutive waves:political and economicliberalization, economicrecession, a rapidincreasein foreign direct investment, unevenregional development and,finally, a periodcharacterizedby theemergence ofnew governance regimes. The variousauthors addressthislast 'wave' and describethe various'recombinant and hybrid forms' ofgovernance systems whichare currently arising. The earlychapters byJohnPickles, Bela Greskovits, ArjanVliegenthart andJanDrahokoupil add manyimportant and critical insights to ourunderstanding ofthenewforms ofcapitalism arising in theformer Europeansocialist societies. John Pickleshas some interesting ideas on differences betweenMax Weber's and Karl Polanyi'sreflections on the 'spirit'of capitalismwhich he considers to be an important componentofthe transformation process. Othercontributors pointtothelimitations ofa 'national'modelofcapitalism and emphasizetheroleoftransnational interests in shapingthecontours of capitalism intheCentraland EastEuropeanstates. Greskovits conceptualizes fourtypesofpoliticaleconomy:heavybasic,heavycomplex,lightcomplex and lightbasic. His analysishas thevirtueof facilitating comparisons with non-post-socialist societies inEurope,Africa and LatinAmerica.Readerswill findthesetypesuseful, thoughperhapsmoreexplanationcould have been given. Vliegenthart drawsattention, whichis long overdue,to thecontribution of global and transnational forces(such as transnational corporations, the EuropeanUnionand International Monetary Fund)in thetransformation of post-socialist states. The institutional structure oftheEU, he pointsout,'locks in' thenewmemberstatesand restricts theirspheresofoperation. Focusing on theCzech Republic,he emphasizes theimportance ofthepenetration of foreign capital.Drahokoupiltakesup manyofthesethemesand linksCzech developments totheideology ofNewLabour'sworkfare state.He distinguishes between different periods of capitalistdevelopmentand concludes that '"foreign capitalism" is themotoroftheCzech economyafter theexhaustion and dissolution oftheCzech one' (p. 84). The chapters byTatiana G. Dolgopyatova and SatoshiMizobataconsider the crucial economic problemsinvolvedin economic governance.Both valiantly attemptto clarify the complexnatureof ownership and control ofRussiancompanies.Clearly,dominantinterests are comprised ofprivate owners,management and stateagencies,and the authorsreferto various surveys conducted in Europeto generalize. Mizobatadevisesuseful chartsto illustrate differences between Russian,American, GermanandJapanesecompanies .However,until we areable topenetrate thepresent opaque structures ofownership toestablish theactuallociofcontrol, we can onlysurmise about 792 SEER, 88, 4, OCTOBER 2OIO thewaysin whichdifferent interests come to dominatein different typesof capitalism and,until we areable todo research intostrategic decision-making in Russiancompanies, ourunderstanding willbe limited. The secondpartofthebookis lesswellfocused. The chapters are diffuse, lack unifying themesand are less theoretically relevant. They coverlabour and tradeunionsin Belarusand the Visegradstates;tourism in Bulgaria, environmental concerns inLithuaniaand theriseofinformal networks inthe Czech Republic,Slovenia,Bulgariaand Romania.Hereperhapsmoreproactiveeditingmighthave encouragedthe contributors to followsome of the themesof theearlierchapters.For instance, thechapteron environmental regulation in Lithuaniaoutlinessomeoftheenvironmental problemsin the Sovietand post-Soviet period;herewe couldhavehad an analysis ofthedifferent kindsofpollution in theearlierperiodcomparedto thelatter and the structural waysthatan administered andmarket economy recognize and solve (orconveniently ignore) theproblems. How does 'democracy and themarket' promotea good environment and what are the intrinsic propertiesof stateplanningwhichled to environment protection beinglargelyignored. Some comparisons aremadewithothercountries (e.g.Lithuaniaand France, p. 194)but theseneed to be contextualized in termsof GDP and levelof industrialization. The data utilizedin thebook relateto theearlyyearsofthetwenty-first century and earlier, and couldwellhave been updatedforpublication here. This is a collection whichhas some good informative chapters.Many will stimulate thinking and research on post-socialist states. University ofCambridge David Lane Walker,Gregory, and Simmons, J. S. G. (eds). University Theses in Russian, Soviet andEast European Studies igoj-2006: A Centennial Bibliography ofResearch inthe British Isles.MHRA Bibliographies 3. ModernHumanities Research Association,London, 2008. xv + 239 pp. Indexes. £30.00; $65.00; €45.00. In 1967,the lateJohn Simmonspublishedin OxfordSlavonicPapers the earliest listofthesesapprovedforhigher degreesin British universities in the fieldof Slavonicand East European studies.Simmons'slistbegan chronologicallywithT . P. Themelis'saudacious dissertation on the relationship between theWestern and Orthodoxchurches from thefallofConstantinople to the Enlightenment, which was awarded an OxfordB. Litt,in 1907. Thereafter, at roughly fiveyearintervals, Simmonsand,from1987,Gregory Walkerpublishedupdatesin Oxford Slavonic Papers, whileat the same time addingin detailsofthesespreviously overlooked and extending theirsearch toincludeSouthern Ireland.In 2000,Oxford Slavonic Papers ceasedpublication andthelistfor19972001wasaccordingly published inthis journal(SEER,82, 1,2004,pp. 132-98).The present volume,editedbyWalker,unitestheeight previously publishedlistsand carriesthe list forwardto 2006, hence its description as a 'CentennialBibliography5. ...