Table of Contents

Introduction: The Success, Fragility, and Diversity of Postsocialist Capitalism 1. Capitalist Diversity after Socialism Comparing East European Capitalisms Polanyian Varieties Postsocialist Regime Concepts Matrixes of Institutions and Performances Puzzles of the Small State Pattern 2. Paths to Postsocialist Capitalism Leaving the East Mobilizing Consent Returning to the West: Transnationalization and European Integration 3. Nation Builders and Neoliberals: The Baltic States Origins of the National and Nationalizing Projects Exclusionary and Inclusionary Democracies The Politics of Early Economic Reforms Nationalist Social Contracts Constructing the Estonian Success Story Internationalization, European Integration, and the Baltic Economic Miracle 4. Manufacturing Miracles and Welfare State Problems: The Visegrad Group Unsuccessful Experiments and Double-Edged Inheritances Welfarist Social Contracts Rival Manufacturing Miracles Contesting the Euro 5. Neocorporatism and Weak States: The Southeastern European Countries Labor's Won Battles and Lost Wars Postsocialist Capitalism in Strong and Weak States Neocorporatist Balancing versus Crisis-Driven Path Corrections 6. The Return of Hard Times Recession, Austerity, and No Alternatives: The Baltic States Semicore Specialization, Polarized Democracy, and Austerity: The Visegrad Model in Peril The Crisis, Neocorporatism, and Weak States: Southeastern Europe Responsible Government or the Specter of Ungovernability Conclusion: Postsocialist Capitalism Twenty Years On Legacies, Initial Choices, and Repressed Alternatives Market, Welfare, Democracy, and Identity: Compatibilities and Trade-offs Virtues and Vices of Deep International Integration Global Convergence versus Capitalist Diversity New Global Transformations Index

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. Bela 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.

Reviews

"This is a long awaited book on the emerging capitalist systems in Central and Eastern Europe. Dorothee Bohle and Bela 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 Bela 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)