Socialist Countries Research Articles

The Phenomenon of Hybrid State Capitalism in Emerging Market Economies: Present and Future

The actual and complex topic of the transformation of a number of countries with emerging markets directly connects with the phenomenon of the ongoing formation of a new type of state capitalism. This study contributes to an increasingly relevant research concerning the problem of new state capitalism in rela-tion to emerging market economies. Unlike referent previous pub-lications, the object of the study presents transformation not indi-vidual national economies, but their conglomerate characterized by the prevalence of the state-capitalist order. A retrospective of the transformation of the entire enclave of emerging market econ-omies in a large number of countries has briefly presented. On this ground, the process of the reproduction of economic systems, distinguished by a hybrid structure with a prevailing state-capitalist order, in a separate conglomerate of post-developing and after socialist countries has analyzed in the last period. The fol-lowing main hypothesis has been verified: the relatively low cost of productive capital, labor, and especially primary resources, which distinguished the economies of hybrid state capitalism, displays in the inertial growth of production capital and employment, associ-ated with an accelerated increase in output and profit. Based on the empirical available evaluations, with regard to the conglomer-ate of considered national economies the most significant funda-mental competitive advantage presents still the preservation of a relatively low cost of production factors. By the author's argu-mentation, a vision of the prospect for the transformation of such national economies has supposed. The final conclusion concerns the possibility of successful adaptation of these economic systems to the positive fundamental changes, especially including those associated with the transition to sustainable overall social devel-opment.

A Comparative Study of the Change of the Economic Model of Poland after 1989 and Chinas Reform and Opening up

The former socialist countries of the Cold War have undergone a transition from planned economies to market economies in the context of economic globalization. This is a significant phenomenon that deserves scholarly attention. The paper focuses on Poland and China as two examples of different reform models, paths, and ideologies. A comparative analysis based on factual data is conducted to explore their transition process and outcomes. The results show that the path of transition each country has chosen has both similarities and differences. Both countries have faced various difficulties and opportunities in their reforms, and have adopted different policy measures to improve their domestic development. The conclusion suggests that there is no single optimal model for economic transition, but rather a diversity of choices and trade-offs that depend on the historical, cultural, and political factors of each country. In conclusion, Poland and China are two examples of countries that have undergone significant economic transitions in the past four decades. They have similarities and differences in their economic structure before the transition, their process of the transition, their growth in the past four decades, and their political and systematic factors in the transition. Their experiences provide valuable lessons for other countries that seek to achieve economic development.

The Influence of Dominant Groups on Chinas Art Collectors and Contemporary Art Curatorial Practices

With the rapid development of Chinas economy, contemporary Chinese art has also achieved unprecedented breakthroughs. With the expansion of globalization and as a socialist country with the unique nature of Chinese characteristics, how do the curatorial practices of Chinese contemporary art develop in a complex social environment? This research explores the influence of dominant groups on Chinas art collectors and contemporary art curatorial practice based on the Frankfurt Schools critical theory. Furthermore, the research expands this theory to a broader context of China. The curatorial practices of Chinese contemporary art are deeply controlled by monopoly capital, which influences the aesthetic preferences of the public through the monopoly of popular culture. It borrows the hands of wealthy collectors to manipulate the art market. Political parties set boundaries for artistic creation through strict censorship. On the positive hand, censorship promotes the inheritance of traditional culture. By understanding that there is an invisible hand behind human cultural and artistic activities, to warn that the self-consciousness people believe is usually the result of being influenced by others language and behavior.

Research on the Role Mechanism of Digital Economy on Industrial Transformation and Upgrading in Jiangxi Province

High-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in a comprehensive manner. After decades of development, the digital economy has realised a wide range of connotations and diversified technological applications at the theoretical and practical level.This project constructs digital economy-enabled industrial high-quality development indicators from multiple dimensions, and explores the intrinsic mechanism of digital economy and industrial transformation and upgrading in 11 prefecture-level cities in Jiangxi Province. Specifically, the entropy weight-TOPSIS model is established to measure the comprehensive score of digital economy and the level of industrial structure transformation and upgrading of the two, and the PVAR model is constructed to further explore the mechanism of the two.The study found that in the comprehensive level of the digital economy, the overall trend is rising, and the difference in the level of digital economic development of each city is getting bigger and bigger; in the comprehensive level of industrial transformation and upgrading, the overall view of the various cities in Jiangxi Province with the change of time, industrial transformation and upgrading level is gradually improved; through the establishment of the PVAR model analysis of the impact of the digital economy on the upgrading of the industrial structure is not particularly obvious, and the impact of the level of the industrial structure on the the impact of the digital economy is unstable. In this regard, this paper puts forward specific suggestions in three aspects: encouraging the vigorous development of digital economy, accelerating the pace of industrial transformation and upgrading, and stimulating the power of digital economy on industrial transformation and upgrading.

Marx's Idea of "Leapfrogging" and the Reality of Socialist Practice

In his later years, the focus of Marx's research shifted to the more backward countries of the East. Did the backward countries have to follow in the footsteps of the Western capitalist countries in order to embark on the road of modernisation and development? Through the study of the current situation of the Russian society, Marx put forward the idea of "crossing the Caudine forks" that the backward Eastern countries could skip the capitalist stage and enter the socialist stage of development directly, which is a theory that can be applied to all economically backward countries to shorten the process of development to socialism. Correct theories can guide the progress of practice, and Marx's idea of "crossing the Krafting Gorge" has left a practical challenge for the socialist countries in the East. For a special socialist country like China, how to make a smooth transition from an agrarian country to a socialist country, the Chinese leadership gave an answer - the primary stage of socialism. With the continuous development of the level of productive forces, China crossed the long "primitive accumulation" stage of capitalism in a peaceful and correct way' in just a few decades. As socialism with Chinese characteristics continues to grow and develop, China has demonstrated to the world in practice the superiority of the socialist system, and has shown its confidence in the system that modernisation is not the same as westernisation.

Historical Review of the Establishment of the Rule of Law in China and Lessons Learned

After the restoration of the rule of law at the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), there was a great deal of disagreement about what the rule of law was and whether or not it should be applied, which was hotly debated in China's legal academia. The fifteenth congress of the Communist Party of China put forward the "rule of law, building a socialist country under the rule of law", marking the formal establishment of the rule of law in China. Looking back at the historical process of the establishment of the rule of law in China, we have four insights: the rule of law in China is in line with the realities of China's social development; it is an important guarantee of the country's long-term peace and stability; it is in line with the objective laws of the historical development of mankind and the historical laws of the Communist Party's rule; and it is in line with the people's aspirations for, and quest for, a good legal system.

Emigration From Post-Communist Central Europe After 1989 Interpreted Within the Aspirations/Capabilities Framework

In the period of post-communist transition, Central Europe witnessed complex and multifaceted mobility processes; permanent outmigration, of an ethnic or labour-related nature, coexisted with temporary, seasonal, or cross-border movements and an increasing influx of foreigners. To study these complex processes, we have chosen to apply a holistic and comprehensive approach, rather than limit conceptual considerations to one theory of migration determinants. We focus on eleven post-communist countries that joined the European Union (EU-11) and on the period extending from around 1989, covering the EU’s eastward enlargement, to the present. The aim of this study is twofold: first, we propose a general conceptual framework, based on the aspirations/capabilities approach, to present the main determinants of emigration from this part of the European continent. Second, in relation to each determinant, we formulate research questions postulated by selected theories of international migration and present the evidence, based on existing empirical studies, that addresses these questions. The paper contributes to the literature by providing a broad interpretation of post-transition mobility and pointing to commonly overlooked explanatory factors. We highlight the importance of economic factors that have enhanced and directed the outward migration from the EU-11 to selected EU member states and selected economic sectors; in particular, as regards capabilities, these factors include the lifting of labour market restrictions, high demand in the secondary sector of labour markets, and the roles of migration networks and the migration industry. Emphasis is also placed on aspirational factors, such as labour market failures and the substantial aspirational gap resulting from improvements in high educational attainment in the countries of origin. The aspirations/capabilities approach serves well as a general framework of migration determinants, but its explanatory power is enhanced by reference to other, more specific theories of migration. We show that a combination of the complementary approaches provides a more refined and in-depth picture of migration from the region.
 * This article belongs to a special issue on “Demographic Developments in Eastern and Western Europe Before and After the Transformation of Socialist Countries”.

RESOLUSI KONFLIK DI ASIA TENGGARA PERSPEKTIF ISLAM (STUDI KASUS RESOLUSI KONFLIK CHAM ISLAM DALAM MENGHADAPI SINKRETISME ISLAM DI VIETNAM)

Vietnam is one of the countries in Southeast Asia in the form of a Socialist country. The majority of the population in Vietnam embraces Buddhism while Islam is a minority religion there. The Muslim population in Vietnam is divided into two sects or schools, namely Cham Islam and Cham Bani. Cham Islam is a follower of the Sunni sect of Islam while Cham Bani is a sect of Islam that is still influenced by Indian culture or traditions. This study examines the resolution of the Cham Islam conflict in the face of Islamic syncretism in Vietnam from an Islamic perspective. With qualitative research methods, the authors found that the conflict resolution used in reducing conflicts that occurred because of differences in flow between Cham Islam and Cham Bani was a persuasive approach using the method of deliberation as taught by Islam. Another method when the method of deliberation is not achieved is the method of war. War in conflict resolution is not meant to solely kill lives but to survive and defend religion when threatened. Keywords: Resolution, Conflict, Vietnam, Islam

Religion and National Identity in Central and Eastern European Countries: Persisting and Evolving Links

The article contributes a better understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the intertwining of national and religious identity at the individual level in (some) former Communist and socialist European countries. It starts by retracing from a historical perspective the place religion occupied under the regimes, then paying attention to how, once politicized and ethnicized by the hand of a new class of ethnopolitical entrepreneurs, religion became “the hallmark of nationhood.” This excursus allows us to better contextualize both the theoretical argument and findings. The intertwining of national and religious identity is investigated from two main theoretical sources. The first is the debate within sociology and political science on different ideas of nationhood, while the second consists of socio-psychological models of intergroup relations. The empirical investigation is based on survey data from the European values study (EVS, 2017). A comparative approach is used that includes four countries having Catholic large majorities (Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, and Hungary) and, as a benchmark, Romania, having an Orthodox majority. To test the hypotheses, a structural equation model is specified. The causal model seeks to unravel to what extent different conceptions of nationhood (ethno-religious vs. civil), together with national attachment, influence the intergenerational transmission of religious values and distrust of people of another religion/nationality. The research results are in line with the current European trends pointing in the direction of a stronger overlap between the religious and the national in tailoring collective identities.

Bridging the Divide: Some Recollections of Undertaking Comparative Labour Law Research with Former European Socialist Countries

This paper offers some reflections on comparative scientific research in the field of labour law by reference to the former socialist countries of Europe prior to 1989. The focus is primarily upon approaches to collaborative research and techniques for comparative evaluation rather than any attempt to deliver a detailed elaboration of “socialist labour law”. The perspective is that of a British labour lawyer whose contemporaneous activities extended to publication, research and teaching projects in collaboration with a broad range of socialist academic experts of the time. This presentation sets out by noting the relative lack of attention paid to experiences in those socialist legal systems – in part as a result of difficulties in accessing and understanding scientific works published in the official languages of those countries, but also due to widespread scepticism on the parts of non-socialist researchers towards the value of work undertaken by the academic community in the socialist countries. The author points to the importance of studying experiences of these legal systems not only for the sake of historical reflection but also by virtue of insights that those experiences can offer to an appreciation of labour law as it has developed post-1989. The historical context provided by this work thus highlights the opportunity for reflection in relation to concrete national systems, as well as clearly illustrating the timeless importance of conducting comparative research on labour law. Emphasis is placed upon the need for an inclusive approach to the study of labour law in order to discern the totality of developments in that field, rather than limiting the focus to regionally oriented developments as scientific facts and the drawing of conclusions based on them. In the course of presenting this paper, the author also provides an insight into the career of Prof. Željko Potočnjak, whose position as a prominent scholar of labour law in Central and Eastern Europe is considered through the prism of personal recollections and illustrations of the significance accorded to his contributions in that area.

Construction of China's Common Prosperity Index: an empirical analysis based on AHP-DEMATEL method

Common prosperity is the essential requirement of socialism and common aspiration of the people. At present, the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development is still prominent in China, and the gap between urban and rural areas in terms of development and income distribution is large. As China embarks on a new journey to fully build a modern socialist country, there is a long way to go in realizing the common prosperity of all the people. Therefore, it is particularly important to study the statistical measurement of China's common prosperity index. This paper selects the measurement method of China's common prosperity index as the research object, constructs the index evaluation system of China's common prosperity index from three dimensions of development, sharing and sustainability, adopts AHP-DEMATEL method, dimensionless processing and negative index processing to build the common prosperity index measurement model, and uses SPSSPRO, SPSSAU and other program processing software to program and solve the model, and calculates the China Common Prosperity Index for 2019-2022. Finally, for the synthetic index, the empirical analysis was carried out, which concluded that in recent years, China has effectively achieved high-quality development with sustainable development as the main direction, but there are problems such as large differences between urban and rural areas and income distribution. This paper not only provides new ideas for the construction of China's common prosperity index evaluation system and model, but puts forward countermeasures and suggestions for the development of common prosperity, which has certain reference value.

Productivity Gap between the “New” and “Old” Europe and Role of Institutions

The present study examines how policy makers should consider the quality of institutional framework to reduce the productivity gap and increase a country’s ability to absorb superior technologies developed elsewhere. This paper analyzes the impact of components of economic freedom, such as the size of government, regulation, and freedom to trade internationally, and world government indicators, such as political stability and absence of violence/terrorism, regulatory quality, and control of corruption on the productivity gap between the “Old” and “New” Europe countries. This is among the first studies to investigate, in a sample of former socialistic countries, the impact of institutions on a country’s ability to adopt superior technology developed elsewhere. A static panel analysis was applied on cross-sectional data from the eleven EU countries. The results strongly support the productivity convergence between the “Old” and “New” Europe countries, with a positive impact of the institutions on the productivity growth. However, the impact of the institutions fades the further the country is from the frontier.

Spatial–temporal distribution and evolution of the socialist built heritage in China, 1949–1978

As the material product of socialist construction activities, the socialist built heritage (SBH) represents socialist-era achievements and has unique cultural value. However, political controversy and inadequate conservation awareness have produced an unprecedented crisis. The aim of this study was to draw worldwide attention to the value of SBH to promote future conservation. Taking the socialist country of China as a representative example, the spatial distribution and spatial–temporal evolution of SBH during the Socialist Revolution and Construction Period (1949–1978) were explored using GIS analysis tools from typological and holistic perspectives. A geographic detector was also applied to reveal the driving factors that affected the distribution. The results indicate that (1) from both perspectives, the SBH presented uneven and clustering distributions compared with other heritages. High-density areas varied by heritage type but were virtually nonexistent in western and northwestern China. (2) Growth stages existed to different degrees for most types and the holistic SBH, primarily from 1953 to 1965. The centers of military heritage, industrial heritage, transport heritage, and the holistic SBH all exhibited north-to-south migration with narrowing and clustering of range areas. Cities such as Beijing were identified as hotspots. (3) GDP, financial revenue and capital investment constituted the major positive driving factors for the SBH distribution and interacted with other factors, with average altitude ∩ GDP having the strongest interpretation. These findings reveal the spatial–temporal distribution characteristics of Chinese SBH and provide concrete guidance and positive foundations for future conservation in China and the world.

Enhancing Capacity to Build an Advanced Culture and Strengthening Cultural Self-Confidence: Forging a New Splendor for Socialist Culture in the New Era

The 20th Party Congress has put the promotion of cultural self-confidence and self-improvement and the forging of a new glory of socialist culture in front of the whole Party as an important task for the comprehensive construction of a modernized socialist country and the strengthening of the Party’s ability to govern. Under the new situation of new opportunities and challenges in the new era, if we want to build a modern socialist country in all aspects, we must adhere to the road of socialist cultural development with Chinese characteristics, enhance cultural self-confidence, build a strong socialist culture around raising the flag, gathering the people’s hearts, educating new people, promoting culture and displaying the image of a socialist cultural powerhouse, develop a socialist culture that is modernized, scientific and popular among the nation and the people, and stimulate the creative power of national cultural innovation and enhance the ability to realize the goals of a modernized, scientific and popular socialist culture. The development of a modern, world-oriented and future-oriented national, scientific and popular socialist culture will stimulate the cultural innovation and creativity of the whole nation and enhance the spiritual strength for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Therefore, it is necessary to have an accurate position in understanding, at least grasp three aspects: firstly, we should accurately grasp what culture and advanced culture are; secondly, we should recognize the necessity of continuously improving the ability to build advanced socialist culture and enhancing cultural self-confidence; and thirdly, we should continuously improve the ability to build advanced socialist culture and enhance the key point of cultural self-confidence. Only by grasping these three aspects can we continue to enhance the soft power of national culture and the influence of Chinese culture on the new journey of building a modern socialist country.

Natalism as a Nationalist Biopolitical Response from Socialism Till Today in Hungary

AbstractAfter the Second World War, the population policies of the socialist countries were not free from the dilemma of natalist/anti-natalist policies. This essay focuses on the Hungarian population policy discourses of the Kádár era and the present day, with some references to Central European specificities. The fear of the disappearance of Hungarians has been present in Hungarian intellectual discourse for several centuries, and by the twentieth century, it had become a fundamental idea that reached society as a whole. Given the growing interest (not independently of contemporary trends) in the international sociological literature not only in the transformation of biopolitics in recent decades but also in the historical antecedents of earlier periods, I believe that it may be interesting to examine the fear of national death in both a Hungarian and a Central European context.

Exploring the Path of Modernization of Urban Community Governance

China has entered a new journey of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way. As the basic unit of urban grassroots governance and the spatial organisation of social life, the urban community is an important hand in practising the modernisation of the national governance system and governance capacity, and in constructing a social governance pattern of "common construction, common governance and common sharing", and the modernisation of its governance is also an objective requirement to adapt to the change of the main social contradictions in the new era. In practice, due to the complexity and diversity of urban community problems mapping out the endless means of governance, this paper aims to clarify the concept of community and community governance, the requirements of the era of community governance and the current state of development of emerging technologies, and to sort out the current status of the concept of community governance of pluralistic governance, refined governance, and the current status of the community governance means of the PPP model (Public-Private-Partnership) and artificial intelligence. community governance means status quo. Finally, Starting from three aspects of community governance: grassroots government, community residents, and emerging technologies, the following community governance paths are proposed: government: strengthened guidance, weakened dominance; residents: weakened elitism, strengthened public participation; and technology: enhanced living experience, digital operation. It explores the concept and means of governance with a view to providing a new path for current community governance in China.

Spectres of Intellectual Property in the Soviet Union: The Development and Recognition of the Inventor’s Certificate

Abstract After the October Revolution in 1917, the legal protection for inventions in the Soviet Union underwent a series of transformations. One of the key changes was the emergence of the “inventor’s certificate” as a socialist alternative to patents, whereby inventions were declared to be state property, but inventors were entitled to recognition and compensation. Patents were generally available in parallel to inventor’s certificates, but the latter remained the preferred mechanism for encouraging the worker-inventor and mass inventing activity, as well as promoting the free flow of information that capitalist patent systems had failed to achieve. However, as the Soviet Union started to pursue membership of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, several socialist countries sought to amend the treaty to recognise their inventor’s certificates as equivalent to patents. This sparked a debate amongst Paris Union members, during which the socialist countries portrayed the inventor’s certificate in a manner analogous to Schrödinger’s cat: it simultaneously was and wasn’t a patent. While the debate was never fully resolved by the Paris Union members, this article revisits the history and international debates about the Soviet protection of inventions to consider what the uncertainty about the inventor’s certificate might reveal about the circulation of technical information and the nature of global intellectual property law.

Emancipation as an illusion: a review of factory management policies in the Soviet Union and China

ABSTRACT The emergence of industrial capitalism in the 19th century undoubtedly changed production processes in factories, and mass production theories and practices emerged for the first time in human history. Pioneers, namely Taylor and Ford, had revolutionary factory production and management innovations under industrial capitalism. However, the basic rights of workers, along with those of large factories, have been largely neglected. Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Gramsci began to formulate theories and practices of workers’ emancipation based on the mass production of industrial capitalism. As the two most important socialist countries on Earth, the Soviet Union and China have practiced emancipatory policies at the factory level based on the Marxist ideal. Through a triangular comparison model, this article examines whether the Soviet Union and China have achieved their ideals of worker emancipation. This article proposes a theory of workers’ emancipation, mainly based on the Marxist ideal, while Soviet and Chinese practices are compared horizontally. In the end, the article concludes that both the ideals of the Soviets and Chinese on workers’ emancipation have not been fully achieved despite both having some contributions to worker emancipation; the failure of achieving the emancipatory ideal rendered both countries’ claims on emancipation as mere ‘illusions.’

Gender indicators within labor market

This research paper aimed to review the main social indicator, which is used to assess poverty and quality of life, as well as to calculate minimum wages, minimum pensions and basic social payments. The traditional way of measuring poverty is based on income. A family is considered poor when its income falls below the minimum level needed to meet the basic needs of its members. In the written and electronic literature this level is usually called the subsistence level or the poverty line. Currently in our country, there is a lack of official data regarding the vital minimum indicator. In this way, Albania is the only one among the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe, without an official indicator of the defined subsistence minimum, which means that our country currently lacks the basic level of poverty measurement. The International Labor Organization (ILO), the World Bank,the IMF, the Trade Unions, the People’s Advocate, and the Albanian Parliament have from time to time addressed suggestions to the government for setting the official minimum wage indicator. We believe that from this point of view, this study can also serve to revise economic growth strategies and reduce poverty. The living wage indicator is also used in other studies, to be compared with salaries, pensions, etc., but also with the total income of employees on the basis of family budgets. The study will serve to compare the official minimum living wage for an employee with the minimum wage and the size of pensions, social assistance, unemployment benefits, etc. As it is known, in Albania, the level of pensions is determined by law, while the level of the minimum wage, the amount in value of economic assistance, payment of unemployment and disability payment are determined by a Decision of the Council of Ministers. None of these poverty indicators is directly based on the vital minimum indicator.

Is East-West Life Expectancy Gap Narrowing in the Enlarged European Union?

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990 and EU enlargement in 2004 are two major political events in the recent history of the Central and Eastern European region. By systematically comparing the changes and differences in life expectancy at birth between the seven new member countries from Central and Eastern Europe and more advanced countries of the EU-15, this article attempts to identify the vanguards and laggards in the health convergence process before and after the 2004 EU enlargement. The results of decomposition analysis highlight the changing patterns of age- and cause-specific contributions to the differences in life expectancy. Finally, we focus on the variations in the progress in reducing the burden of cardiovascular diseases and external causes of death, which were known to be responsible for the long-term mortality crisis during the period of communist rule. Our findings suggest that the collapse of the communist regimes led to immediate positive changes in the Central European countries. At the same time, health disadvantages persisted and even worsened in the Baltic countries. Later on, joining the EU in 2004 was not accompanied by immediate systematic convergence of life expectancy. However, very rapid progress in the initially worst performing Baltic countries after 2007 and especially during the 2010s, may suggest a delayed positive impact of EU enlargement leading to decreasing longevity disadvantage. The convergence process after 2004 was generally slower in the initially better-performing four Central European countries. Despite these country-specific variations, Czechia, Poland, and, especially, Estonia remain clear health vanguards in the region. Further progress requires much more systematic efforts to combat cardiovascular diseases and the persisting burden of excess male mortality at adult working ages.
 * This article belongs to a special issue on “Demographic Developments in Eastern and Western Europe Before and After the Transformation of Socialist Countries”.