Privatization in Central and Eastern Europe: Perspectives and Approaches (Post-Communist Cultural Studies (Hardcover))

Central and Eastern European countries are facing the transition from central to market systems with different strategies and capacities. As the task of societal transformation is without precedent in world history, the massive economic restructuring has revealed the need for distributive justice and general well-being. As the editors and contributors to this volume point out, the monolithic preoccupation with economic restructuring in a market economics framework is implemented at the expense of social protection and security. In contrast to traditional views of privatization as only an economic or managerial phenomenon, this collection approaches privatization as a broader integrated process of societal transformation. Privatization as defined here consists of integrated processes of societal restructuring that affect sociopolitical, economic, and ideological constructs as well as human and physical capital development, transformation of family structures, market stabilization, and organization of social care. Public policymakers as well as scholars and researchers of contemporary Eastern Europe will find this collection of great interest, and an important challenge to the economic models of privatization which undervalue social costs. Preliminaries......Page 1 Contents......Page 5 1. A Global Approach to Privatization......Page 17 2. Privatization, Competition, and Structural Change in Eastern Europe......Page 40 3. Privatization and Reform of Public Enterprises......Page 51 4. Privatization in Estonia......Page 67 5. The Czech Republic’s Privatization Experience......Page 75 6. Economic Reforms in the Baltics: The Case of Lithuania......Page 87 7. The Concept of Mass Privatization in Poland......Page 99 8. Privatization in Romania: Present State and Perspectives......Page 110 9. Economic Perspectives on Privatization in Russia: 1990–1994......Page 118 10. Slovenia: A Case Study of the Challenges of Privatization......Page 136 11. The Privatization Process in Bulgaria......Page 148 12. Privatization and Restructuring in Croatia......Page 158 13. State and Market in Romanian Social Policy......Page 169 14. Corporate Interests and the Politics of Transition in Russia 1991–1994......Page 183 15. Privatization and Oligarchy in Post-Communist Bulgaria......Page 198 Conclusions......Page 209 Index......Page 213 About the Contributors......Page 221 Central and Eastern European countries are facing the transition from central to market systems with different strategies and capacities. As the task of societal transformation is without precedent in world history, the massive economic restructuring has revealed the need for distributive justice and general well-being. As the editors and contributors to this volume point out, the monolithic preoccupation with economic restructuring in a market economics framework is implemented at the expense of social protection and security. In contrast to traditional views of privatization as only an econom These essays examine how privatization in Central and Eastern Europe is perceived and implemented showing how economic reform is pursued at the expense of social welfare. Privatization in the global scene is often perceived solely in relation to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).