Social Inequalities

Social inequality means the existence of social status groups and, therefore, a normatively embedded structure of social stratification. This chapter deals with social inequalities and their dynamics as conditional and causal factors and as results of processes of radical change. Concerning the first aspect, the chapter discusses social class inequalities and dynamics of (absolute) impoverishment, relative deprivation, and rising expectations among certain social groups that may determine ‘transformative’ pressure or even revolutionary situations. Regarding the impact of social transformations on social inequalities, the chapter suggests that the more radical and complex the social transformations, the greater are their effects on social structures and regimes of social inequality. This thesis is underpinned by providing empirical findings on social mobility and income inequality in different historical waves and (sub-)types of transformation. Finally, the chapter identifies seven crucial bundles of factors determining the extent of income inequality as an outcome of current societal transformations and their characteristics.

Regional Disparities

This chapter provides a stocktaking of the conceptualization of the spatial dimension of postcommunist social change. It traces the shifts in academic concepts which sought to grasp the effects of transition on the regional level and the diversification of regional trajectories. It identifies three distinct stages of transition research which represents such shifts. An initial phase of nation state-centred accounts of regional transition was followed by a period which highlighted the diversification of patterns of regional disparities, focusing on regional capitals and border regions, and establishing globalization as an important factor of new core–periphery relations and interregional competition. A final post-transition stage has been described as being dominated by socio-spatial polarization and the increasing vulnerability of regions in the face of neoliberal policies and recurring global economic crises. Formerly clear-cut concepts relating inequality to the legacies of earlier stages of transition have gradually vanished, leaving a theoretical gap.

Phases of Transformation

This chapter examines system change: the interval between an autocratic system and a new consolidated democracy. This transformation can be differentiated in to three phases: (1) the end of the autocratic system, (2) the institutionalization of democracy, and (3) the consolidation of democracy. The end of an autocratic system can be caused by internal legitimacy crises as well as external forces like military conflict, and follows different courses. During the institutionalization of democracy, political actors need to manage to establish institutions and norms that maintain a balance between particular interests and the common good in order to prevent a backslide into autocracy. The consolidation of democracy starts with the adaptation of a new constitution, and takes place on four levels: (a) constitutional consolidation, (b) representative consolidation, (c) behavioural consolidation, and (d) the consolidation of civil society. A democracy consolidated on all four levels has considerable reserves of resistance to meet exogenous destabilization shocks.

Macroeconomic Stabilization

The aim of macroeconomic stabilization is restoring price stability and reducing monetary, fiscal, and balance-of-payment imbalances. Macroeconomic stabilization is particularly needed when a country suffers from high inflation or hyperinflation. To stop such an inflation one can choose between three types of anti-inflationary programmes: orthodox money-based, orthodox exchange rate-based, and heterodox. Other cases of macrostabilization policy include reducing excessive fiscal deficit and public debt before they become monetized, dealing with the deflationary consequences of the systemic banking crisis, reducing the excessive current account deficit, dealing with the consequences of a sudden stop in capital flows, and fighting chronic moderate inflation. Fiscal rules, and the independence of monetary and fiscal institutions such as central banks, play an important role in preventing macroeconomic instability. National macroeconomic policies are also monitored from outside, for example by the International Monetary Fund and European Commission (in the case of EU member states).

Legal Systems and Economic Development

Legal systems and economic development stand in a complex, interdependent relation to one another. Attempts to identify a causal relation from law to economic outcomes have mostly failed, because they don’t take into account the effect of legal and economic change on power structures, and more broadly, on social relations. In part this can be attributed to the conceptual blindness of certain disciplines that focus on micro-constellations and largely ignore systemic effects; in part, it is the result of wishful thinking in policymaking institutions that have time and again tried to use law as an instrument for engineering economic change.

Institutional Transfer

This chapter examines institutional transfer, a special form of the knowledge diffusion process and an imitation of best practices that follows the model of the somewhat better-studied technology transfer. Central to the concept is the deliberate reference to a foreign model. The most common motive for institutional transfer is catch-up modernization and the urgent need for developed institutions. There are numerous examples of such transfers: Japan, Turkey, but also postcommunist Eastern Europe, where expectation of EU membership speeded up the transition process. A central problem is the fact that political, economic, and social institutions are embedded in a social context. They correspond to certain social values. Where they are too far apart from the latter transplanted institutions are hardly adaptable.

Dilemma of Simultaneity

The theory of the dilemma of simultaneity is empirically based on the transformations of post-socialist states in Central and Eastern Europe. The transformations after the collapse of the socialist bloc were without precedent with regards to breadth and depth. The dilemma of simultaneity consists of three parallel transition processes on three dimensions. The first part of this chapter explores the three dimensions of the transitions: nation building, political transformation, and economic transformation. The second part discusses the three levels of transformation: (1) ethno-national identity and territory, (2) polity, and (3) socio-economic distribution. The third part highlights the complexity and challenges of multidimensional simultaneous transformation processes. The fourth and fifth parts discuss the role of international actors and socio-economic structures on the transitions in Central and Eastern Europe. The chapter concludes with an account of Elster’s and Offe’s critics and their response.

Post-socialist Transformations in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

This chapter considers post-socialist or postcommunist transformations as a subtype and historical wave of imitative societal transformations, i.e., system changes taking the form of disruptive, accelerated, and politically steered modernization projects which follow successful models of society in the framework of global hegemonies. Focusing on an international comparative overview of post-socialist change in the Second World system, i.e., the countries and union republics within the Soviet Empire, the chapter begins with a discussion of dynamics and factors of state socialism’s decline. Subsequently, it problematizes key dimensions, actors, and dilemmatic processes of the transitional phase in the narrow sense, concentrating on the political and economic spheres. Finally, the chapter deals with the long-term period of structuration and its ambivalent character, which includes a discussion of varieties and innovative aspects of postcommunism as well as post-transformative challenges.

Post-absolutist Transformations in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

Post-absolutist transformations are disruptive, accelerated, radical, and politically controlled modernization projects in Asian and Eastern European societies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with reference to successful social models in the context of global hegemonies. After delineating the world-societal context, this chapter deals with the so-called Meiji Ishin, i.e., the social restoration and renewal under Emperor Mutsuhito in Japan (1868–1912), that represents the earliest and in a way paradigmatic case of this historical wave and subtype of imitative societal transformations. Then four further post-absolutist transformation ventures are briefly described and discussed: the Iranian case (1907–41), the Russian Revolution (1905–7), the Turkish transformation (1908–38/46), and the short Chinese upheaval (1911–12). The chapter concludes with a comparative and typological summary discussing key dimensions and factors in shaping post-absolutist transformations and their long-term outcomes.

Macro-Qualitative Approaches

Macro-qualitative (MQ) approaches to the study of regime transformation can be defined as those that (a) in order to describe or explain macro-level phenomena (b) predominantly use qualitative data and (c) make claims about these phenomena in terms of set relations. MQ approaches can be static or dynamic and are normally used for single-case or small- to medium-N-sized studies. The set of methods employed in MQ research thus defined ranges from qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to sequence elaboration and process tracing. Classics in the MQ transformation literature can be interpreted in terms of set theory. For instance, Lipset (1959) famously claimed that there are social conditions that are necessary for the functioning of democracy.