Capitalist Diversity on Europe's Periphery

by Dorothee Bohle, Bela Greskovits

Overview

With the collapse of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance in 1991, the Eastern European nations of the former socialist bloc had to figure out their newly capitalist future. Capitalism, they found, was not a single set of political-economic relations. Rather, they each had to decide what sort of capitalist nation to become. In Capitalist Diversity on Europe's Periphery, Dorothee Bohle and Béla Geskovits trace the form that capitalism took in each country, the assets and liabilities left behind by socialism, the transformational strategies embraced by political and technocratic elites, and the influence of transnational actors and institutions. They also evaluate the impact of three regional shocks: the recession of the early 1990s, the rolling global financial crisis that started in July 1997, and the political shocks that attended EU enlargement in 2004.Bohle and Greskovits show that the postsocialist states have established three basic variants of capitalist political economy: neoliberal, embedded neoliberal, and neocorporatist. The Baltic states followed a neoliberal prescription: low controls on capital, open markets, reduced provisions for social welfare. The larger states of central and eastern Europe (Poland, Hungary, and the Czech and Slovak republics) have used foreign investment to stimulate export industries but retained social welfare regimes and substantial government power to enforce industrial policy. Slovenia has proved to be an outlier, successfully mixing competitive industries and neocorporatist social inclusion. Bohle and Greskovits also describe the political contention over such arrangements in Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia. A highly original and theoretically sophisticated typology of capitalism in postsocialist Europe, this book is unique in the breadth and depth of its conceptually coherent and empirically rich comparative analysis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801478154
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	08/15/2012
Series:	Cornell Studies in Political Economy
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.69(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Dorothee Bohle is Associate Professor of Political Science at Central European University and the author of Europe's New Periphery: Poland's Transformation and Transnational Integration. Béla Greskovits is Professor of International Relations and European Studies at Central European University and the author of The Political Economy of Protest and Patience: East European and Latin American Transformations Compared.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables ix

Acknowledgments xi

Abbreviations xiii

Introduction: The Success, Fragility, and Diversity of Postsocialist Capitalism 1

1 Capitalist Diversity after Socialism 7

Comparing East European Capitalisms 9

Polanyian Varieties 13

Postsocialist Regime Concepts 17

Matrixes of Institutions and Performances 25

Puzzles of the Small State Pattern 53

2 Paths to Postsocialist Capitalism 55

Leaving the East 58

Mobilizing Consent 62

Returning to the West: Transnationalization and European Integration 82

3 Nation Builders and Neoliberals: The Baltic States 96

Origins of the National and Nationalizing Projects 98

Exclusionary and Inclusionary Democracies 99

The Politics of Early Economic Reforms 104

Nationalist Social Contracts 113

Constructing the Estonian Success Story 124

Internationalization, European Integration, and the Baltic Economic Miracle 131

4 Manufacturing Miracles and Welfare State Problems: The Visegrád Group 138

Unsuccessful Experiments and Double-Edged Inheritances 139

Welfarist Social Contracts 152

Rival Manufacturing Miracles 161

Contesting the Euro 172

5 Neocorporatism and Weak States: The Southeastern European Countries 182

Labor's Won Battles and Lost Wars 184

Postsocialist Capitalism in Strong and Weak States 197

Neocorporatist Balancing versus Crisis-Driven Path Corrections 211

6 The Return of Hard Times 223

Recession, Austerity, and No Alternatives: The Baltic States 227

Semicore Specialization, Polarized Democracy, and Austerity: The Visegrád Model in Peril 237

The Crisis, Neocorporatism, and Weak States: Southeastern Europe 248

Responsible Government or the Specter of Ungovernability 255

Conclusion: Postsocialist Capitalism Twenty Years On 259

Legacies, Initial Choices, and Repressed Alternatives 260

Market, Welfare, Democracy, and Identity: Compatibilities and Trade-offs 263

Virtues and Vices of Deep International Integration 265

Global Convergence versus Capitalist Diversity 267

New Global Transformations 269

Index 275

Editorial Reviews

Dorothee Bohle and Béla Greskovits examine the varying forms that capitalism has taken in east central Eurpoe, offering a new typology of capitalist democracies informed importantly by the work of Karl Polanyi's early analysis of twentieth-century capitalist development in Europe.... The nuance and clarity of the analysis allow the book to engage multiple debates on postcommunist political and economic reform.

Slavic Review - Hilary Appel

Capitalist Diversity on Europe's Periphery focuses on post-1990 East-Central Europe.... The result is an absolutely masterful analysis, sharply argued and beautifully written. I believe it is set to become a classic in the field of transition studies.

Stefan Sfallfors

"This is a long awaited book on the emerging capitalist systems in Central and Eastern Europe. Dorothee Bohle and Béla Greskovits set themselves a very challenging task: to comprehensively cover the capitalist diversity in 11 countries at a time when comparative research in the area is still at an emergent stage, and when detailed research on the individual countries is still in its infancy. They have achieved this masterfully. . . . Capitalist Diversity on Europe's Periphery is a superb book that should be on every reading list on Eastern European capitalism. It will certainly become a reference book on the subject as well as an agenda setter for future research in the area and beyond."—Silvana Cimpoca, West European Politics (June 2013)

"Bohle and Greskovits see three distinct approaches: the “neoliberalism" that characterizes the Baltic states and favors market efficiency over the other two concerns; the “embedded liberalism” of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, which softens the pursuit of market efficiency and pays greater attention to welfare policies; and Slovenia's “neocorporatist” approach, which seeks to cushion the effects of marketization on particular segments of society. In this tightly argued comparative study, the authors also explore how these three clusters of countries have dealt with their socialist legacies and with the imperatives imposed by a liberal global economy and the financial and economic crisis that it has lately generated.”—Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs (January/February 2013)

"Capitalist Diversity on Europe's Periphery focuses on post-1990 East-Central Europe. . . . The result is an absolutely masterful analysis, sharply argued and beautifully written. I believe it is set to become a classic in the field of transition studies."—Stefan Sfallfors, Perspectives on Politics (May 2013)

"Dorothee Bohle and Béla Greskovits examine the varying forms that capitalism has taken in east central Eurpoe, offering a new typology of capitalist democracies informed importantly by the work of Karl Polanyi's early analysis of twentieth-century capitalist development in Europe. . . . The nuance and clarity of the analysis allow the book to engage multiple debates on postcommunist political and economic reform."—Hilary Appel, Slavic Review (Fall 2013)

"Bohle and Greskovits . . . have given us a much better starting point for comparative analysis of the development of types of capitalism in the region they study than any other currently available."—Martin Myant, Transfer (2013)

"Bohle and Greskovits have produced a generally solid comparative study of developments in former state socialist. . .They have developed a comprehensive framework for explaining the divergences. . . .a much better starting point for comparative analysis of the development of types of capitalism in the region they study than any other currently available."—Martin Myant, Transfer, (March 2013)

"Capitalist Diversity on Europe's Periphery is the most important book on the political economy of emerging Europe in a decade."—Mitchell A. Orenstein, S. Richard Hirsch Associate Professor of European Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, author of Pensions, Social Security, and the Privatization of Risk

"The authors express a passionate commitment to liberal democracy, especially to its neocorporatist version. At the same time given their extensive knowledge of actual events they manage to stay away from far-reaching generalisations and paint a highly complex picture of the transition. While the diversity of crisis experiences raises a number of challenges to their theoretical framework, the overview of struggles during the past 20 years to combine market efficiency and popular support provides an important set of hypotheses regarding the future. The combination of deep theoretical and regional insights is likely to make the book a reference volume not only for scholars focusing on the region but also for those pondering the future of global capitalism and democracy." —Dora Gyorffy, Peter Pazmany Catholic University, Europe-Asia Studies(May 20, 2014)

From the Publisher

This is a long awaited book on the emerging capitalist systems in Central and Eastern Europe. Dorothee Bohle and Béla Greskovits set themselves a very challenging task: to comprehensively cover the capitalist diversity in 11 countries at a time when comparative research in the area is still at an emergent stage, and when detailed research on the individual countries is still in its infancy. They have achieved this masterfully.... Capitalist Diversity on Europe's Periphery is a superb book that should be on every reading list on Eastern European capitalism. It will certainly become a reference book on the subject as well as an agenda setter for future research in the area and beyond.

West European Politics - Silvana Cimpoca

The authors express a passionate commitment to liberal democracy, especially to its neocorporatist version. At the same time given their extensive knowledge of actual events they manage to stay away from far-reaching generalisations and paint a highly complex picture of the transition. While the diversity of crisis experiences raises a number of challenges to their theoretical framework, the overview of struggles during the past 20 years to combine market efficiency and popular support provides an important set of hypotheses regarding the future. The combination of deep theoretical and regional insights is likely to make the book a reference volume not only for scholars focusing on the region but also for those pondering the future of global capitalism and democracy.

Europe-Asia Studies - Dora Gyorffy

Bohle and Greskovits see three distinct approaches: the 'neoliberalism' that characterizes the Baltic states and favors market efficiency over the other two concerns; the "embedded liberalism" of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, which softens the pursuit of market efficiency and pays greater attention to welfare policies; and Slovenia's 'neocorporatist' approach, which seeks to cushion the effects of marketization on particular segments of society. In this tightly argued comparative study, the authors also explore how these three clusters of countries have dealt with their socialist legacies and with the imperatives imposed by a liberal global economy and the financial and economic crisis that it has lately generated.

Foreign Affairs - Robert Legvold

Bohle and Greskovits... have given us a much better starting point for comparative analysis of the development of types of capitalism in the region they study than any other currently available.

Transfer - Martin Myant