The Political Economy of Protest and Patience: East European & Latin American Transformations Compared Book

"Greskovits provides a compelling insight on the relationship between the economic and political aspects of change and why protest has been so muted. [the book] Deserves a wide readership among those interested in the economic transition of Eastern Europe." The Times Higher Education Supplement

"This well-informed and lively book presents a compelling theme...a provocative and insightful perspective for students of post-communism and comparative political economy." Choice

"This is an important book. It is also an unusual one in that it spans some unhelpful and stubborn divides - between regions of the world and the people who work on them, between political-economic theories and political-economic practices, and among the disciplines of political science, economics and sociology. This is particularly welcome in an area of study, such as the political economy of reform, that cries out for trespassing." Europe-Asia Studies

Why did Eastern Europeans protest less about the brutal social consequences of systemic change than the people of Latin America a decade earlier? Why has the region-wide authoritarian or populist turnabout not occurred? Why has democracy in these countries proved to be crisis-proof? In what ways has economic crisis impacted on the politics of the region?

In addressing these questions, this book uses a comparative analysis of the structures, institutions, cultures, and actors shaping both the Eastern European and the Latin American transformations. The author argues that structural, institutional, and cultural factors have put a brake on destabilizing collective actions which have paved the way for the emergence of theenduring, low-level equilibrium between incomplete democracy and imperfect market economy which seems set to characterize the Eastern
European experience for the foreseeable future.

Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Crisis and neoliberal transformations in the 1980s and 90s Chapter 3: The loneliness of the economic reformer Chapter 4: Local reformers and foreign advisors Chapter 5: The social response to economic hardship Chapter 6: Rethinking populism under post-communism Chapter 7: Populist transformation strategies Chapter 8: Compensation as a government tactic Chapter 9: Conflict, social pact and democratic development in transforming Hungary Chapter 10: Crisis-proof, poor democracies Bibliography

1998
233 pages

Booknews

Despite gloomy predictions, democracy and the market economy seem to be taking root throughout Eastern Europe, against a background of deep recession. Looks into reasons for the failed predictions of authoritarian or populist uprisings, and examines the realities of postcommunist transformation in the region. Contains chapters on the social response to economic hardship, populism under postcommunism, and compensation as a government tactic. Includes a case study of Hungary. Distributed by CUP Services. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.