Austerities and Aspirations : A Comparative History of Growth, Consumption, and Quality of Life in East Central Europe since 1945

This monograph provides an analysis of the economic performance and living standard in Czechoslovakia and its successor states, Hungary, and Poland since 1945. The novelty of the book lies in its broad comparative perspective: it places East Central Europe in a wider European framework that underlines the themes of regional disparities and European commonalities. Going beyond the traditional growth paradigm, the author systematically studies the historical patterns of consumption, leisure, and quality of life—aspects that Tomka argues can best be considered in relation to one other. By adopting this “triple approach,” he undertakes a truly interdisciplinary research drawing from history, economics, sociology, and demography. As a result of Tomka’s three-pillar comparative analysis, the book makes a major contribution to the debates on the dynamics of economic growth in communist and postcommunist East Central Europe, on the socialist consumer culture along with its transformation after 1990, and on how the accounts on East Central Europe can be integrated into the emerging field of historical quality of life research. "This monograph updates existing scholarship on the economic performance of Czechoslovakia (and its successor states), Hungary, and Poland since 1945, in contrast with Western Europe. For this longitudinal comparative exercise, the author goes beyond the traditional growth paradigm and analyzes the historical patterns of consumption and leisure, as well as quality of life, broadly understood, aspects that Tomka argues can best be analyzed in relation to one other. By adopting this "triple approach," his analysis relies not only on economic history and economics, but also on the methods and results of sociology and demography. Tomka's three-pillar description shows that the pre-World War I period was the time when East Central Europe was closest to Western Europe. The interwar period sustained this level. The book thus dispels the widespread myth of the communist era as one of catching up and convergence. Beyond providing useful quantitative information, the author provides insight on the scholarly debates ranging from the factors of growth to demographic developments to the complexities of consumption in communist regimes. The analysis finally demonstrates that the postcommunist transition, despite its high social and economic costs, allowed for qualitative and quantitative convergence, stalled only by the financial crisis of 2008"-- Provided by publisher Contents Foreword 1 Introduction: Comparisons and the Triple Approach to Well-Being 2 Economic Growth: Catching Up and Falling Behind 3 Consumption: Structures, Practices, and Policies 4 Quality of Life: Towards a More Comprehensive Understanding of Well-Being 5 Determinants of Change: Accounting for Growth and Beyond 6 Passages to the New Millennium: The Evolving Order of Divisions 7 Conclusions: Lessons of the Triple Approach Appendix Notes Bibliography Index