Post-socialist Context Research Articles

From economic turbulence to demographic change: Tracing the pathways of the second demographic transition in post-socialist contexts

From economic turbulence to demographic change: Tracing the pathways of the second demographic transition in post-socialist contexts

New trends in the housing market and supply in the urban area of Pécs, Hungary.

The paper focus on the period of COVID-pandemic and post-pandemic years in a medium sized city’s local housing market. Our research framework was to identify the direct effects even the pandemic and later the energy crisis, arose as a consequence of Russian aggression against Ukraine. On the other hand, we try to follow the changes of housing market trends not just in the city alone, but in the surroundings, too, concentrating on suburbanisation, as an emerging phenomena after the transition (post-1990 period) in a post-socialist context. The case study area was Pécs, one of the regional centres in Hungary, with a university town character, and less successful pole of FDI led re-industrialisation. Our major results suggest, that global challenges affect local markets directly. In a wider term, we find the 2020s as a turning point, after a long regeneration period in housing market after the global fiscal crisis (2008-2013 in Hungary). The COVID-pandemic closed the era of conjuncture and the next few years did not show a clear characteristic, but short-term micro-cycles followed each other, influenced by the elements of the governmental support system. To point out the recent changes, we used a quantitative methodology, based on different data sources (CSO, self-built) and find some correlation between some basic indicators. Suburbanisation, as a ‘western’ type phenomena could be register around Pécs, but the de-concentration of well-off groups prefer only a few settlements close to the city, and neglect a higher number of smaller villages with worse accessibility, lower level of local services, less diverse local economies and less perspective wages. Connecting with our theories we used, the production of space, and agency theories has the more direct causality with our results. The professional developers, the local governments and the most powerful actor, the central government fuel the changes in the local (urban area level) housing market trends, through forming the space following the needs of middle- and high-income groups. The spatial transformation of the suburban area around Pécs deeply rooted in the post-socialist (neo-liberal) way of development in the majority of East-Central-European space. This study is part of a larger long-term project financed by the NRDI Fund of Hungary („The effect of housing market processes on spatial (social) structure of Hungarian regional centres” – K131534) concentrate on five larger cities, including Pécs, and their suburb.

Captured by Political Power: More-Than-Neoliberal Urban Development and Planning in Post-Socialist Hungary

By critically reflecting on the concept of “post-socialist neoliberalism” proposed by this thematic issue, we argue against the widely assumed hegemony of neoliberalism, not just in the post-socialist context, but anywhere. We suggest taking features that do not fit in the narratives of neoliberalism seriously and highlighting more-than-neoliberal rationales, too. We present cases from the literature focusing on post-socialist and illiberal contexts, especially in Hungary. As the critical reading of the literature and the secondary and primary data about Hungary shows, narratives of capitalist class domination and accumulation can be less than adequate. The maintenance of clientelist or neopatrimonial relations dominated by political power with politically created rents is a separate issue. Therefore, instead of assuming “in the last instance” determination by neoliberalism, which is only camouflaged with theoretically irrelevant contextual issues, we argue for the examination of neopatrimonial relations besides neoliberalism to better understand the mechanisms behind urban development. In doing so, we can explain how power is maintained without actual development, how corruption as a mode of rule is politically accepted, and why political struggles need to consider other aspects besides fighting capitalist class domination.

Spiritual opium and the spiritual opium war: a cultural history of arcade games and console games in 1990s China

In the 1990s, in China, arcade and console games were called “spiritual opium.” Why were video games labeled spiritual drugs, specifically opium, as opposed to other types of drugs? How did the mainstream media gradually depict video games as spiritual opium? The term “spiritual opium” carries profound historical and political connotations and is skillfully employed by media entities to disparage video games, fostering adverse perceptions among the populace. This scholarly inquiry delves into the cultural history of arcade and console games during this era. Historical and cultural methods were used to meticulously trace the genesis and evolution of the “spiritual opium” metaphor in the 1990s, scrutinizing the process through which video games were ensnared by this pejorative label. In addition, the paper also elucidates the “spiritual opium war,” a series of government-led campaigns against arcade and console games, including investigations, crackdowns on arcades, and reminiscent of Mao-era mobilizations. By doing so, this research fills a critical gap in the historiography of Chinese gaming, thereby enriching studies of the regional game industry and contributing to a broader understanding of the global gaming landscape. This article also shows how postsocialist states such as China navigate the challenges posed by the influx of video games and their perceived political threats and provides a nuanced understanding of state–media dynamics and cultural policy in postsocialist contexts.

Debt-Based Trade, Social Norms, and Informality in Uzbekistan

Debt-based trade and economic exchanges are becoming more and more widespread in the context of post-Soviet Central Asian societies. In the absence of viable state economic support, a functional banking system, and an effective legal system, trust-based economic exchanges serve as an alternative means for conducting micro-level businesses in Central Asia. The phenomenon of “rassiychilar,” which is the central focus of this article, is one of the intriguing examples of debt-based trade in rural Fergana, Uzbekistan. This debt-based trade involves a myriad of informal economic exchanges among various actors, locally and transnationally. The article argues that trust-based economic networks and debt-based trade serve as an alternative means of doing business in rural post-socialist contexts characterized by legal uncertainty, rampant corruption, and an inefficient economic and banking system.

The transformation of images of Nezha and the changing cultural discourses in Chinese national style animated films from 1979 to 2019

Nezha is a mythological and dynamic character in the Chinese cultural discourse. In traditional China, the mythological character of Nezha represents a cultural integration between Daoism and Buddhism. By applying the Chinese animated films as an approach, this article focuses on exploring the changing cultural discourses of the Chinese national style in post-Maoist cinema through critical analysis of the character of Nezha and the deployment of Daoist philosophy in the construction of Chinese national style from the post-Cultural Revolution context to the post-Socialist context. This article examines two Chinese national-style animated films. The first film is Nezha Naohai (1979) which was produced in 1979, and another animated film is Nezha Zhi Motong Jiangshi (2019) which was produced in contemporary China. Through the film and cultural analysis of Nezha Naohai (1979), this article argues that the Daoist philosophy engages in the cultural discourse of Chinese national style and shapes the narrative, rhetoric, aesthetics and characterisation of Nezha in the post-Cultural Revolution context. The contemporary film Nezha Zhi Montong Jiangshi (2019) reflects an ideological change in the discourse of Chinese soft power states the power of Chinese culture including Daoist philosophy within a modern and scientific paradigm, which promotes a more international Chinese national identity and national style.

Party System Change and Challenges to Democracy in Slovenia

In the context of a post-socialist party system, stabilisation is believed to be linked to democracy. Based on that assumption, it could be inferred that party system instability is not compatible with the consolidation of democracy. However, research has found that the destabilisation of party systems does not endanger democracy in Western countries. The case study of Slovenia reveals that dynamic changes in the party system and consolidation of democracy may also be feasible in the post-socialist context. There are factors additional to party system instability that may together produce a shift away from democracy, as happened in Slovenia in the period between 2019 and 2022 under Janez Janša’s government. This exploratory study of Slovenia has revealed domestic and external factors, which together co-create the particular outcomes of a fluid democracy, including several not yet revealed in the literature as relevant. The findings encourage further comparative qualitative and quantitative research not only into factors of democratic decline, but also of democratic stability in the context of multiple external shocks.

Formations of Feminist Strike: Connecting Diverse Practices, Contexts, and Geographies

This introduction to the special issue on Feminist Strike takes up the question of what remains marginalized and overlooked within dominant discourses on contemporary feminist protests. Drawing on experiences of and approaches to feminist refusal that involve questions of labour, we propose the ways in which conceptualizations of feminist strike can be employed as a lens to build a conversation between different practices, scales, and geographies, particularly across postcolonial and postsocialist contexts. Through a reading of Aliki Saragas’s film Strike a Rock (2017) about the women living around the Marikana miners’ settlement in the aftermath of a major strike, we explore how notions of feminist strike can be expanded by situating Black women’s struggles in South Africa within a long tradition of women’s resistance and showing how political resistance is bound to questions of reproductive work. To understand the intersection of postsocialist, post-conflict, and (pre-)Europeanization transformations, we consider the case of a large-scale strike and public demonstrations against the bankruptcy of the Croatian shipyard Uljanik that took place in 2018 and 2019. Our perspectives on the Marikana and the Uljanik strikes show how women in both places practise a politics of refusal and resistance against ruination, violence, and defeat. In the last section, we summarize the contents of the articles that comprise the special issue.

Elite schools and educational inequality: Evidence from a private university in Kazakhstan

Neoliberal reforms in education led to the creation of elite schools which resulted in educational inequality that later often channels into economic and social inequalities. This research aims to deepen the understanding of the impact of elite secondary education on inequality in a post-Soviet context. The study empirically examines the gain in academic performance achieved by graduates of better-funded, better-quality, elite public secondary schools in Kazakhstan during their studies at a university, with a sequential mixed-method approach. Our quantitative analysis documents that they indeed perform better than their peers who have studied at mainstream public schools. The qualitative analysis underscores that elite schools in Kazakhstan, with superior infrastructure and academic standards, prioritize soft skill development, yet exacerbate educational inequality by limiting access to students without resources or means to relocate. This work has important policy implications most crucial of which is the efficiency of public funding policy that anchors educational inequalities. Our research highlights how neoliberal reforms in Kazakhstan have exacerbated educational inequality through the emergence of state-sponsored elite and private schools, echoing broader concerns about the negative impact of education marketization on equity in post-socialist contexts.

Boiled watchdogs? The declining professional autonomy of precarious millennial generation journalists

Abstract Professional autonomy, the latitude practitioners have in carrying out their occupational duties, is essential to journalism. This study, which examines how precariously employed journalists of the millennial generation in Slovenia perceive their professional roles, how professional autonomy plays out in practice, and how they advocate for better working conditions over time, draws on in-depth interviews conducted in 2017 and 2021. The findings reveal that journalists initially viewed their role as context-specific watchdogs helping the weak. However, journalists faced challenges to their autonomy that limited their ability to translate this role into practice. Most journalists did not consider it worthwhile to unite collectively to improve working conditions, leading to a gradual deterioration of professional autonomy. We propose the term ‘boiled watchdogs’ likening their situation to a frog slowly boiling over time. This article contributes to the international literature on precarity and professionalism in journalism in a post-socialist context.

Debt Dependency and the Cost of Migration: The Case of Roma and Non-Roma Migrants from Baia Mare

Abstract The Baia Mare region was once one of Romania's main mining centres, with a significant proportion of the local population engaged in industry jobs. However, the extensive economic restructuring that followed the collapse of the old communist regime and the emergence of capitalist development was characterized by brutal privatization measures and great economic instability. While the transition years brought new opportunities for some, for most they meant unstable housing and employment, debt, and a declining social status. Thus, many workers quickly became ‘surplus populations’ (Li 2017) and were forced into patterns of circular migration abroad. Employing a qualitative research methodology, analysing both interviews and secondary data, this paper will focus on the adaptive responses of workers from Baia Mare to the changes in the socio-economic landscape after the collapse of the communist regime and the advance of neoliberal policies in Romania. In particular, the paper looks at Roma and non-Roma migrants from Baia Mare, attempting to compare their strategies and work histories in the context of migration, to see the extent to which class and race differences play a role in creating specific migration patterns in the post-socialist context. The comparison between racialized people living in improvised shelters on the periphery of Baia Mare and those who are working class but not living in a situation of destitution will show us the role that dispossession plays in creating certain conditions that lead to debt dependency and specific migration patterns.

What is the Role of Science in Post-Socialist Education and Society? Insights from a Survey of Preschool Teachers from Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia

The paper presents the results of a survey conducted among preschool teachers in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, the aim of which was to investigate the attitudes of the participants towards the role of science in education and society. Recent global trends in economic development have introduced new educational concepts in national curricula worldwide, one of which is scientific literacy. Preschool teachers have been encouraged to introduce scientific activities with children into their practice and adopt a new outlook on the role of the natural sciences in education. Social change within the post-socialist context implied that adopting the new outlook required a value shift for all members of the education community. We therefore wanted to explore whether this process was actually taking place, and whether it was impacting the perception of science amongst preschool teachers. We applied Inglehart’s modernisation theory of materialist and postmaterialist values. The results showed that preschool teachers in all three countries were inclined to a postmaterialist view of science, but that it was possible to distinguish between two value-orientations, which we named “post-materialism” and the “materialist image of the child”. Older teachers accepted the “materialist image of the child” more than younger teachers, confirming a certain intergenerational value change, which we have interpreted as a shift from a collectivist to an individualistic approach to education.

Review of psychological studies on correlates of youth religiosity in post-socialist Bosnia and Herzegovina

Research on religiosity in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and former Yugoslavia during the socialist period consistently shows that the majority of inhabitants (70–80%) identify as not religious. In the 1990s, many things changed in BiH, the most important definitely being the fall of the socialist system, expansion of ethnic awareness among all three dominant peoples (Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats), and ethnic war. These social circumstances were followed by changes in the relationship towards religion. Religion has become a very important and socially desirable ideology. In this survey, we review psychological surveys and investigate to what extent young people in the post-socialist context of BiH are religious, and we examine the relationship between religiosity and other social, psychological, and demographic variables. The results of close to 50 empirical surveys have been analysed. Papers were written in the period from 2000 to 2022. All papers included samples from BiH. The paper with the smallest sample had 163 respondents, while the biggest sample amounted to 7,000 respondents. The majority of papers had 300–550 respondents. All surveys encompassed young people between 15 and 25 years of age. The instruments used in most of the cases were the religiosity scales that rely on Allport’s concept of religious orientation, and they imply the existence of intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions (subscales) of religiosity. The results of most of the research show that around 70–90% of participants identify as religious. People in Bosnia and Herzegovina are keen on identifying as religious, but that is much less accompanied by adequate and concrete religious attitudes and behaviours. Socio-demographic variables can be important for expressing religiosity, but those correlations are not consistent. Religiosity almost regularly correlates with conformity, authoritarianism, and conservatism. There is a tendency that religiosity can be a determinant of personal well-being. Correlation is found with better family relations, altruism, lower anti-social behaviours, and, in some research, greater satisfaction with life and optimism. In contrast to that, religiosity can be connected with certain realistically or potentially problematic constructs such as social and ethnic distances, authoritarianism, dogmatism, and ethnocentrism. In the future, it is necessary to work on the development of religiosity, which is a factor of internal and social well-being, and not of intergroup disputes.

Emergency Aesthetics: The Case of the Four Faces of Omarska

Abstract This article examines how contemporary artists from the Western Balkans have sought to engage with the legacy of ethnonationalist violence. While attempts to examine and openly discuss war crimes that occurred in this region during the 1990s have largely been undermined by populist politics in successor states, the domain of art has provided a critical platform for disrupting the official erasure of these atrocities. This investigation focuses on the Four Faces of Omarska art collective, whose members examine the war crimes that occurred following the break-up of socialist Yugoslavia by studying the transformation of the Omarska site in north-western Bosnia – a location that has variously served as a mining complex, a death camp, and a set for the filming of an ‘ethno-blockbuster.’ In providing a comprehensive (art) historical analysis of their practice, the article considers the collective's public engagement strategies by invoking Santiago Zabala's concept of ‘emergency aesthetics’ as a method for countering the political erasure of urgent issues. This analysis reveals that the significance of the Four Faces of Omarska project extends beyond its immediate post-socialist context, and indeed provides a model of creative practice fit for our era of planetary crisis.

Using the Pandemic for Their Own Gain: The Experiences of COVID in Serbia

The paper analyzes the experiences of older adults (65 years of age and older) with the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia. At the beginning of the pandemic, the Serbian government declared a national state of emergency, which included a strict curfew in which older adults were forbidden to leave their homes under any circumstances. After 52 days, the state of emergency was lifted, which was soon followed by a rapid loosening of coronavirus measures. During this time, Serbia held parliamentary elections that were rife with irregularities. The government was accused of using the pandemic for political gains, including fabricating the numbers of COVID-19 deaths. The interlocutors in the study mapped their experiences with these measures and recounted how their lives had changed since the early days of the pandemic and into 2022. All interlocutors chose to frame their experiences through their criticism of the government and how it mishandled the pandemic. Rather than making excuses for a weaker government, the criticism is based on interlocutors’ expectations of a capable statecraft that can take care of its people, and the inability of the existing government to fulfill these expectations. Through the experiences of the pandemic, the study examines the tensions between the government and people in Serbia’s post-socialist context, and how these tensions are heightened during the time of crisis.

Changes in the Patterns of Population Distribution and Built-Up Areas of the Rural–Urban Fringe in Post-Socialist Context—A Central European Case Study

The rapid and significant expansion of urban areas is observed worldwide; however, considerable differences are detected within the characteristics of the process. The rural–urban fringe is changing most dynamically from the aspect of land use and this tends to be relevant in the case of post-socialist cities in Central Europe even with a stagnating or decreasing population. Debrecen (Hungary) and its hinterland adequately represent the migration trends of Hungarian cities and the great administrative area provided wide intra-urban suburbanization processes. The current study put the emphasis on the analysis of the spatial pattern of built-up areas and the distribution of residents. In order to discover the processes of the post-socialist transition period, detailed point layers were created to illustrate every built-up parcel in the rural–urban fringe of Debrecen (for the years 1980, 2000, and 2020). The most important characteristics were discovered with the help of GIS methods—Kernel-density, grid pattern analysis of the object density, and analysis of land cover/land use changes using Corine Land Cover Change (CLCC) databases. The dynamic and extended expansion of built-up areas was seen until 2000, in which the outskirts (including hobby gardens) densified spectacularly. The urban sprawl has been less intensive since the millennium and the increase in built-up areas has become more concentrated. As a consequence of the transition period, extended territories—primarily the least dense parts of the rural–urban fringe—are faced with the disappearance of buildings due to agricultural cultivation reasons.

Cultural policy on the move: between the paradigmatic and the pragmatic

ABSTRACT The extent to which Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), as policy concepts, are globalized, has been a matter of debate. This paper engages with the debate while seeking to move beyond the binary division of global and local scales of analysis. Empirically, it examines the emergence and politics of CCIs in Vietnam, with a focus on its connection with the implementation of the UNESCO 2005 Convention. The paper explores the complexity of the policy translation process, which shows the degrees to which neoliberal ideas can be translated in a post-socialist context. It also examines the role of UNESCO and questions the consistency of its position against the commodification of culture. Conceptually, it brings together different approaches to policy translation from language studies, Science and Technology Studies (STS), and postcolonial studies. The paper suggests that this interdisciplinary framework can further the understanding of both paradigmatic and pragmatic dimensions of policy travel.

“Pale, Young, and Slim” girls on red: a study of young femininities on social media in post-socialist China

ABSTRACT RED (Xiaohongshu) is one of the most popular social media platforms in China. Through the act of sharing different lifestyles on this platform, young women users create and follow fashion trends that not only speak for their beauty aesthetics, but, more importantly, reveals their complex femininities. This article examines Chinese young femininities represented on RED, aiming to explore the complex interplay of social and cultural powers in the production of female subjectivities in the post-socialist context. With this point of departure, positioning RED as a culture genre to be analysed, the discussion focuses on two major female representations on this platform: “BM girls” and “Uniqlo-Sanrio girls.” Drawing on Foucault’s theory of “body as a site of power,” this article investigates how Chinese young women, positioned among multiple competing discourses, have been framed as the “docile body” through the collective pursuit of “pale, young, and slim” in post-socialist China.

Complexities and Nuances in Radical Right Voters’ (Anti)Feminism

Abstract While radical right parties commonly advance conservative gender positions, research on radical right voters’ gender attitudes remains inconclusive. To understand radical right voters’ gender attitudes, I first analyze previous research for frames that antifeminist actors commonly use to advance their arguments. I then draw on interviews with eastern German radical right voters to analyze whether and how these voters apply antifeminist frames to argue about feminist policy. I demonstrate that they use antifeminist frames to oppose mostly third-wave and recently salient feminist issues, but also support certain feminist policies, sometimes for instrumental reasons. Further, voters include particularities of their context in their arguments. Eastern Germany constitutes an atypical context, allowing for insights into voters’ (anti)feminism in a post-socialist context marked by atheism and relatively advanced gender norms. The study contributes to understanding complexities and nuances in radical right voters’ gender attitudes, and thereby to understanding cultural grievances beyond anti-immigration attitudes.

Days after a Choice is Made: Transition to Professional and Vocational Upper Secondary Schools in Czechia

Researchers in the Czech Republic, as well as internationally, have traditionally studied the factors that contribute to the choice of upper secondary tracks and programs. Much less is known about the day-to-day experiences of the students in different tracks, particularly in professional/vocational tracks, and the possible mechanisms that produce the positive or negative outcomes of their schooling. We present the results of a prospective qualitative study of 22 students we followed from their last year of lower secondary school and through their first and second years in different tracks and schools. Data obtained in three waves of interviews were subjected to thematic analysis. Two major themes cutting across domains of daily routines, social relations, and the respondents' perception of curriculum/learning are described: school choice and professional/vocational specialization. The key findings are several important differences between the post-transitional experience of students in technical/professional and vocational programs. The study provides important insights into adolescent adjustment in various tracks of secondary schools in the post-socialist context.