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Kristen Ghodsee and Mitchell A. Orenstein blend empirical data with lived experiences to produce a robust picture of who won and who lost in post-communist transition, contextualizing the rise of populism in Eastern Europe. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, more than 400 million people suddenly found themselves in a new reality, a dramatic transition from state socialist and centrally planned workers' states to liberal democracy (in most cases) and free markets. Thirty years later, postsocialist citizens remain sharply divided on the legacies of transition. Was it a success that produced great progress after a short recession, or a socio-economic catastrophe foisted on the East by Western capitalists? Taking Stock of Shock aims to uncover the truth using a unique, interdisciplinary investigation into the social consequences of transition-including the rise of authoritarian populism and xenophobia. Showing that economic, demographic, sociological, political scientific, and ethnographic research produce contradictory results based on different disciplinary methods and data, Kristen Ghodsee and Mitchell Orenstein triangulate the results. They find that both the J-curve model, which anticipates sustained growth after a sharp downturn, and the "disaster capitalism" perspective, which posits that neoliberalism led to devastating outcomes, have significant basis in fact. While substantial percentages of the populations across a variety of postsocialist countries enjoyed remarkable success, prosperity, and progress, many others suffered an unprecedented socio-economic catastrophe. Ghodsee and Orenstein conclude that the promise of transition still remains elusive for many and offer policy ideas for overcoming negative social and political consequences.
Show moreKristen Ghodsee and Mitchell A. Orenstein blend empirical data with lived experiences to produce a robust picture of who won and who lost in post-communist transition, contextualizing the rise of populism in Eastern Europe. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, more than 400 million people suddenly found themselves in a new reality, a dramatic transition from state socialist and centrally planned workers' states to liberal democracy (in most cases) and free markets. Thirty years later, postsocialist citizens remain sharply divided on the legacies of transition. Was it a success that produced great progress after a short recession, or a socio-economic catastrophe foisted on the East by Western capitalists? Taking Stock of Shock aims to uncover the truth using a unique, interdisciplinary investigation into the social consequences of transition-including the rise of authoritarian populism and xenophobia. Showing that economic, demographic, sociological, political scientific, and ethnographic research produce contradictory results based on different disciplinary methods and data, Kristen Ghodsee and Mitchell Orenstein triangulate the results. They find that both the J-curve model, which anticipates sustained growth after a sharp downturn, and the "disaster capitalism" perspective, which posits that neoliberalism led to devastating outcomes, have significant basis in fact. While substantial percentages of the populations across a variety of postsocialist countries enjoyed remarkable success, prosperity, and progress, many others suffered an unprecedented socio-economic catastrophe. Ghodsee and Orenstein conclude that the promise of transition still remains elusive for many and offer policy ideas for overcoming negative social and political consequences.
Show moreList of Tables
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Authors' Note on Terminology
Introduction: Transition from Communism - Qualified Success or
Utter Catastrophe?
Part One: The Economic Evidence
Chapter One: The Plan for a J-Curve Transition
Chapter Two: Plan Meets Reality
Chapter Three: Modifying the Framework
Chapter Four: Counter-Narratives of Catastrophe
Part Two: The Demographic Evidence
Chapter Five: Where Have All the People Gone?
Chapter Six: The Mortality Crisis
Chapter Seven: Collapse in Fertility
Chapter Eight: Outmigration Crisis
Part Three: The Public Opinion Evidence
Chapter Nine: Disappointment with Transition
Chapter Ten: Public Opinion of Winners and Losers
Chapter Eleven: Evaluations Shift Over Time
Chapter Twelve: Towards a New Social Contract?
Part Four: The Ethnographic Evidence
Chapter Thirteen: Portraits of Desperation
Chapter Fourteen: Resistance is Futile
Chapter Fifteen: Return to the Past
Chapter Sixteen: The Patriotism of Despair
Conclusion: Towards an Inclusive Prosperity
Appendix: Data Sources
Selected Bibliography
Kristen R. Ghodsee is Professor of Russian and East European
Studies and a Member of the Graduate Group in Anthropology at the
University of Pennsylvania. Her articles and essays have been
translated into over twenty languages and have appeared in
publications such as The New Republic, The Lancet, Ms. Magazine,
The Washington Post, and The New York Times. She is also the author
of nine books, most
recently: Second World, Second Sex and Why Women Have Better Sex
Under Socialism, which has already had thirteen foreign
editions.
Mitchell A. Orenstein is Professor and Chair of Russian and East
European Studies and a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research
Institute. He is the prize-winning author, editor, and co-author of
eight books on the social policy and political economy of
postcommunist states, including From Triumph to Crisis, Privatizing
Pensions, and Roma in an Expanding Europe. He has consulted for the
World Bank, USAID, and the government of Slovakia.
Laudable
*Anders Åslund, Europe-Asia Studies*
Ghodsee has teamed up with political scientist Mitchell Orenstein
to present a comprehensive survey of all the evidence that things
have gotten worse for Eastern Europe since 1989
*Helen Andrews, The American Conservative, The American
Conservative*
Taking Stock of Shock results from a massive interdisciplinary
endeavor, and it is a timely and crucial contribution to the debate
on postsocialism. Knocking down disciplinary walls, Ghodsee and
Orenstein provide a uniquely broad insight into the post-socialist
landscape. This is more than merely a scholarly achievement.
Building a compelling new narrative is crucial to help break down
the walls of inequality and precarity that limit the actual
exercise of the freedoms post-socialist citizens nominally gained
when the Berlin Wall fell.
*Gabor Scheiring, Review of Democracy, Review of Democracy*
Ghodsee and Orenstein have written a provocative book. Drawing on
an impressive array of economic, demographic, public opinion, and
ethnographic data, they critically analyze the emergence of stark
inequalities that have generated tremendous hardships for many and
enormous benefits for some.
*Gail Kligman, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, UCLA*
From a starting point of cacophony, where different disciplines and
data seem to depict the post-Soviet transition as either a grand
success or an absolute failure, Ghodsee and Orenstein seam together
a convincing narrative where both achievements and disappointments
can coexist. The book's focus on widening inequality allows
reconciling these opposing views and providing crucial insights not
only for scholars of transition countries but also for observers
and policymakers in other regions
*Maurizio Bussolo, Lead Economist, World Bank*
The book presents many important pieces of evidence which, taken
together, document the developments and the images of
transformation that have led to the disillusionment of the majority
of the population in the region today. It is therefore not only a
valuable contribution to the transformation discussion across
different academic fields but also has an appeal for general
audiences.
*Luboš Studený, Historie-Otázky-Problémy*
This book is highly recommendable not only for the richness of data
presented but also the provocative analysis, which helps to
unsettle self congratulatory accounts of the "triumph of the West."
East Europeans do not like inequality and unfairness, and their
voices need to be heard.
*Ulf Brunnbauer, Comparative Southeast European Studies*
This extraordinary book is a thorough assessment of the
post-communist transitions in twenty-nine nations of the region,
written by two scholars, Kristen Ghodsee and Mitchell A. Orenstein,
representing the antipodes of the methodological spectrum. Ghodsee
is a cultural anthropologist whose qualitative ethnographic
approach highlights the idiosyncratic nuances of the communities
under investigation. Orenstein is a political scientist
specializing in quantitative research in political economy on a
societal and cross-national level. Each became a renowned authority
in their respective fields long before they coupled their scholarly
efforts at the University of Pennsylvania. Congratulations to Penn
for poaching them from other fine institutions!
*Krzysztof Jasiewicz, H-Net Reviews*
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