Theorizing Transition: The Political Economy of Post-Communist Transformations

How do we understand the dramatic changes that are transforming the societies of eastern and central Europe and those 'peripheral' countries witnessing a shift to the market? Theorizing Transition examines this and other questions through a variety of studies of the complex political, economic and social transformations occurring in eastern Europe and Central Europe. Contributions from geographers, economists, sociologists, feminists, planners and scholars of international studies unravel the complexity of change in post-communism by examining: theoretical perspectives on transition, industrial and regional restructuring, agrarian change, de-collectivisation and rural struggles, and gendered transformations in a variety of eastern and central European contexts. Examining transformations using a variety of perspectives from critical political economy and cultural theory, Theorizing Transition provides both a rich empirical map of the dimensions of post-Communism and raises important theoretical issues about how we interpret these changes. Robert Begg, University of Pennsylvania, USA, Michael Bradshaw University of Birmingham, UK, Michael Dunford, University of Sussex, UK, Krzysztof Gorlach, Jagiellonian Univ

Table of Contents:
List of plates, List of figures, List of tables, List of contributors, Preface, Acknowledgements, List of abbreviations, 1 Introduction: theorising transition and the political economy of transformation, Part I Theorising transition, Part II Industrial restructuring, uneven development and networks in transition, Part III Social and political movements and the politics of agrarian transition, Part IV Social transformation and the reconstruction of identities, Part V From the developmental state to hybrid capitalisms: comparative transitions, Index

Review :
"The collection of articles in the book presents us with new intellectual perspectives on transition, including 'political economy, feminism, evolutionary economics, and new cultural theory...Indeed, the editors have assembled a fascinating collection of theoretical frameworks and original case studies that not only depart from, but challenge, neoliberal analyses of transition. Combined in one volume, they are a fantastic resource and a great achievement." --Marianna Pavlovskaya "Economic Geograpy