Balkan Blues. Consumer, Politics after State Socialism

Throughout the period of state socialism, water was viewed as an instrument of immense transformative power and water experts were seen as guardians of such transformation, a transformation for which we coin the term 'hydrosocialism'. A reconfiguration of water, a scarce and vital natural resource, was to a great extent identified with social change and envisioned transition to socialist and eventually communist society. While in the West, hydraulic experts (hydrocrats) and the vision of a 'civilising mission' of water management (hydraulic mission) gradually faded away with the arrival of reflexive modernity from the 1960s, in socialist Czechoslovakia the situation was different. Despite the fact they faced analogous challenges (environmental issues, economisation), the technocratic character of state socialism enabled socialist hydraulic engineers to secure their position and belief in transformative powers of water.

Download Full-text

Rijeka as a socialist port: Insights from Jugolinija's early years, 1947-1960

International Journal of Maritime History ◽

10.1177/0843871421991171 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

pp. 193-208

Author(s):

Brigitte Le Normand

Keyword(s):

Rapid Growth ◽

Foreign Currency ◽

Global Market ◽

Early Years ◽

The Political ◽

State Socialism ◽

Privileged Access ◽

Shipping Line ◽

The World ◽

The Impact

To understand the distinctiveness of ports under state socialism, it is necessary to shift the focus from the built environment to flows of people, goods, knowledge and capital. In so doing, this article examines the operation of Yugoslavia's main shipping line, Jugolinija, from its inception in 1947 until 1960. This enterprise was based in the port of Rijeka, with both firm and port experiencing rapid growth during this period. The impact of state socialism can be seen in the primacy of the political over the profitability of the firm, with Jugolinija used to advance Yugoslavia's foreign trade and foreign policy, its interests being subordinated to the project of building self-managed socialism. It can also be seen in the unique challenges posed by having to operate at the intersection of the global market and a highly regulated economy – a situation that also created opportunities for the firm as a whole, as well as for its employees, who had access to foreign currency, travel and knowledge of the world. Jugolinija's privileged access to the world in what was still very much a closed society also created opportunities for ‘leaks’ of personnel and goods. Finally, socialist ideology left its imprint on Jugolinija's operations and shaped the ways in which its employees understood their work and the place of the firm within the Yugoslav economy. While it is tempting to see state socialism as ‘getting in the way’ of Jugolinija's business, in actuality the firm was remarkably successful both at operating within the Yugoslav socialist state framework, and capitalizing on the opportunities provided by access to the global market. Jugolinija's employees, in turn, profited from the mobility that came with working for the firm, sometimes at the expense of the enterprise and the state.

Download Full-text

Institutional Transformation and Enterprise Change in an Emergent Capitalist Economy: The Case of Hungary

Organization Studies ◽

10.1177/017084069801900205 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 259-280 ◽

Cited By ~ 68

Author(s):

Richard Whitley ◽

Laszlo Czaban

Keyword(s):

Eastern Europe ◽

Institutional Environment ◽

Institutional Transformation ◽

Foreign Firms ◽

State Socialism ◽

Organizational Changes ◽

Direct Control ◽

Liberal Democracies ◽

Financial Difficulties ◽

State Enterprises

The collapse of state socialism in Eastern Europe has transformed many of the institutions governing state enterprises and was expected to lead to radical changes in enterprise structures and practices. This was especially so where ownership had changed. However, just as new constitutions do not create liberal democracies overnight, so too the withdrawal of the state from direct control over the economy and privatization does not automatically generate dramatic enterprise transformations. This study of 27 Hungarian enterprises in the early 1990s shows that products and the markets served changed remarkably little, and the employment and organizational changes that have taken place in most enterprises have been less radical than might be expected. Ownership changes have not always led to major shifts in control, nor have private owners implemented sharply different policies from state controllers. The highly fluid institutional environment limited the commitment to, and capacity for, major strategic changes in most substantial Hungarian enterprises. Where changes have occurred, they have been most significant in: (a) state enterprises that are in severe financial difficulties, and (b) companies controlled by foreign firms.

Download Full-text