Elites and classes in the transformation of state socialism
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Elites and classes in the transformation of state socialism
Transaction Pub., c2011
Available at 3 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The year 2011 marks the twentieth anniversary of the end of the Soviet Union. This may be an appropriate time to evaluate the adoption by previously state socialist societies of other economic and political models. The transition has sometimes been described in positive terms, as a movement to free societies with open markets and democratic elections. Others have argued that the transition has created weak, poverty-stricken states with undeveloped civil societies ruled by unresponsive political elites. Which is the more accurate assessment?David Lane examines a few of the theoretical approaches that help explain the trajectory of change from socialism to capitalism. He focuses on two main approaches in this volume - elite theories and social class. Theories dwelling on the role of elites regard the transformation from socialism to capitalism as a type of system transfer in which elites craft democratic and market institutions into the space left by state socialism. Lane contrasts this interpretation with class-based theories, which consider transformation in terms of revolution, and explain why such theories have not been considered the best way of framing the transition in the post-socialist states.While recognizing that elites can play important roles and have the capacity to transform societies, Lane contends that elite theories alone are inadequate to explain a system change that brings free markets. In contrast, he proposes a class approach in which two groups characterize state socialism: an administrative class and an acquisition class.
Table of Contents
- 1: Elite and Class Perspectives on Social Change and Transformation
- 1: Introduction: The Elite and Class Paradigms
- 2: Theoretical Approaches to Transformation and Social Change
- 3: Elite and Class Paradigms of Transformation
- 2: The Transformative Role of Political Elites
- 4: The Changing Social Bases of Political Support
- 5: Transforming Elites under Gorbachev and Eltsin: A "Reputational" Analysis
- 6: Who "Made" the Gorbachev Elite's Decisions?
- 7: Political Elites under Eltsin and Gorbachev
- 8: Conclusions
- 3: Outcomes of Transformation
- 9: The Formation of Russian Capitalism
- 10: Popular Support for, and Opposition to, Reform
- 11: The Place of the Socialist and Post-Socialist States in the Capitalist World System
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