The collapse ‐ An internal or external problem? A critique of Frank's approach

Abstract

I have three main objections to Frank's paper which are as follows: First, the author's description of the development of the socialist system is extremely one-sided. In fact, he completely rejects any explanations and factors related to the internal nature and characteristics of socialism, and overemphasizes the significance of external factors related to the world economy. For him, 'socialism' is only the less developed, backward area of the global economic system. He makes a few general remarks about internal factors and their possible significance; this does not, however, change my assessment of his position, as they only make it somewhat less extreme. Second, Frank seeks to give an account of 'real world economic factors' and refrains from analysing ideological or political ones; nowhere does he explain his understanding of the relations between economy, polity and ideology. Therefore, it seems that for him these spheres of reality exist in complete isolation and there is no need to consider the economic consequences of ideological phenomena. Third, Frank very often makes general statements (for example, concerning similarities between the development of some part of Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe, or the impact of 'socialist development' on the economic standing of various East European regions in relation to each other and to Western Europe) without providing any proof or statistical evidence. Some of these statements may perhaps be intellectually stimulating, but they lack scientific rigour. I am especially doubtful about comparisons between Eastern Europe and the Third World (Latin America, Africa). For example, it is certainly wrong to claim that the economic policy of the Jaruzelski regime like that of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua involved the implementation of an IMF-style programme. I doubt the relevance of this comparison and the validity of this claim with respect to Poland. Let me elaborate upon my arguments, which concern in particular Frank's approach. Reductionism is one of the main errors to be avoided in describing the socialist system with only one factor (or group of