Democratic and Capitalist Transitions in Eastern Europe

This study provides an assessment of the political and economic "transitions" or "transformations" in Central and Eastern Europe. In order to explore this abundant set of diverse and complex processes, it has adopted a particular perspective, which consists of examining the historical specificity of these processes, particularly the simultaneity of political and economic transitions. At the the same time, it examines how the social sciences have approached and interpreted the processes and how, in return, they have. The study offers a variety of insights into these transformations, in particular on the questions of what "democratic consolidations" actually consist of, as well as the political economy of these transitions, focusing on the precise characterization of the market economies which have emerged from these processes. On the other hand, it also constitutes an in-depth critical appraisal of the methodological principles, models of explanation, and fallacies, of the main approaches or paradigms competing within this research field, especially the "strategic" approach of classical transitology, and the path dependence approach, with its more avant-garde flavour. Thus, the analyses and discussions presented in this collection of essays exceed widely the empirical fields of East European transformations, and of transitology on the whole; as a result this book should contribute to destabilizing routine ways of thinking of social scientists and students far beyond the communities of specialists in these questions.