1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910495866003321

Autore

Staniszkis Jadwiga

Titolo

The dynamics of the breakthrough in Eastern Europe : the Polish experience / / Jadwiga Staniszkis ; translated [from the Polish] by Chester A. Kisiel ; foreword by Ivan Szelenyi [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, : University of California Press, c1991

ISBN

0-520-35188-6

0-585-07930-7

Edizione

[Reprint 2020]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xiii, 303 p. )

Collana

Society and culture in East-Central Europe ; ; 6

Altri autori (Persone)

KisielChester A

SzelenyiIvan

Disciplina

320.5/323/0947

Soggetti

Communism - Europe, Eastern - History

Communism - History - Europe, Eastern

Europe, Eastern Economic conditions 1989-

Europe, Eastern Politics and government 1989-

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-294) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Foreword -- Chapter One. History and Chance: The Dynamics of the Breakthrough in the Eastern Bloc -- Introduction: The Logic of Privatization in the State Sector -- Chapter Two. Political Capitalism and Other Patterns of Privatization -- Introduction: New Configurations and Their Dynamics -- Chapter Three. Stage One: Forming the New Center -- Chapter Four. Stage Two: The Collapse of the New Center and Its Reorganization -- Chapter Five. The Discrete Revolution: The Role of Society in the Transformation Directed from Above -- Conclusion: Dilemmas for Democracy in Eastern Europe -- Afterword -- Notes -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Understanding the dramatic political, social, and economic changes that have taken place in Poland in the mid-1980s is one key to predicting the future of the communist bloc. Jadwiga Staniszkis, an influential, internationally known expert on contemporary trends in Eastern Europe, provides an insider's analysis that deserves the attention of all scholars interested in the region.    Staniszkis presents the breakthrough of 1989 as a consequence not only of systemic



contradictions within socialism but also of a series of chance events. These events include unique historical circumstances such as the emergence of the "globalist" faction in Mosow, with its new, world-system perception of crisis, and the discovery of the round-table technique as a productive ritual of communication, imitated all over Eastern Europe. After describing the development, collapse, and reorganization of a "new center" in Poland in 1989-1990, she discusses the first attempt at privatizing the economy. Her analysis of the dilemmas accompanying breakthrough and transition is an invaluable guide to the challenges that face both capitalism and democracy in Eastern Europe.