Virajul la dreapta
Written before the elections in autumn 2007 (when the Civic Platform won the elections), this text is a complex analysis of Poland’s political options that in the past three years brought to power the right wing led by the Kaczynski brothers. What made this change possible? What were the values thought to be jeopardized by the Third Republic that came into being in 1989? What made the Polish people to mistrust EU after having joined it so successfully? In order to answer these questions, The author explains the meaning and structure of the Polish Right.
Right turn : Polish politics at the beginning of the twenty-first century
The article examines the internal politics and the reasons for the challenges that occurred at the beginning of the twenty-first century in Poland. Based on the talk given by the Polish prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski at a rally in November 2007 that politicians stood at the Law and Justice party (PiS). The PiS movement is a nationalist-conservative project guided by a vision of a society united around patriotic values.
Book review : The Polish miracle : Lessons for the emerging markets
This article reviews the book The Polish miracle : Lessons for the emerging markets by Gregorz W. Kolodko.
Authors' Reply
A reply to comments on the article, "Towards Understanding the Polish Economic Culture" (2003), acknowledges the elusiveness of the concept of economic culture & contends that most of the criticisms were based on the belief that the aims of the article were more ambitious than they actually were. The objective was to simply find a way to better understand what happens when a nation with a long legacy of economic backwardness & a nonmarket economy enters into the postindustrial world of late capitalism. Since Poland's development record is below expectations & many business/political patterns were imported, consideration was given to possible clashes between reforms & local patterns of behavior. There was no attempt to analyze the reforms. It is suggested that the rise of small businesses indicates a fight for survival rather than an affirmation of capitalism. Differences between a market economy & capitalism are pointed & the question of whether the positive legacy of cultural affinity to the West is strong enough to counterbalance the "negative idea of backwardness & peripheral condition" is discussed. 3 References. J. Lindroth
Towards Understanding the Polish Economic Culture
This paper addresses the question of a possible incompatibility between the economic culture of the Polish society & new institutions introduced during the processes of transformation to a market economy & accession to the European Union. Economic culture is understood in the paper in terms of value systems, cognitive schemes, & patterns of behavior. Two dimensions are proposed for the analysis of economic culture: governance & entrepreneurship. Governance is analyzed in terms of the dominant type of social ties, attitudes toward formal institutions, criteria for "social payments," & the dominant type of interaction. Entrepreneurship, in turn, is understood in terms of the prevailing logic (nature) of entrepreneurship, time orientation, attitudes toward money, & attitudes toward wealth. The last part of the paper sketches a tentative, working description of Polish economic culture. 64 References. Adapted from the source document.
Book review : Captive University: The Sovietization of East German, Czech, and Polish Higher Education, 1945--1956
This article reviews the book "Captive University: The Sovietization of East German, Czech, and Polish Higher Education, 1945--1956" by John Connelly.
Book review : The new entrepreneurs of Europe and Asia: Patterns of business development in Russia, Eastern Europe, and China
This article reviews the book "The new entrepreneurs of Europe and Asia: Patterns of business development in Russia, Eastern Europe, and China" by Victoria E. Bonnell and Thomas B. Gold.
Globalization and Eastern Europe : 1870-1914, 1970-2000
There have been substantial similarities between the two waves of globalization (1870-1914, 1970-2000) in Eastern Europe, as in both periods the stimuli of the economic and cultural change came from the West. While the first wave might have been more pronounced in strictly economic sense, the second is deeper in cultural and political sense. The assimilation of Western innovations has also been mediated through particular circumstances of backwardness of Eastern Europe. Thus, while modernizing, Eastern Europe has each time retained a peripheral character.
A Comment on Bela Greskovits' and Dorothee Bohle's Article
Comments on Bela Greskovits & Dorothee Bohle's "Development Paths on Europe's Periphery: Hungary's and Poland's Return to Europe Compared" (2001), focusing on their contention that, in Poland's case, the postcommunist transition was more gradual than the "shock" experienced by Hungary, though many who were opposed to capitalist development seek to portray both transitions as the "shock" type. Greskovits & Bohle's arguments about the importance of the precommunist legacies in both countries & the nature of class conflict are supported, but disagreement is expressed with their distinction between "foreign-led" & "national" capitalism, arguing that the differences are a matter of degree rather than kind. 3 References. K. Hyatt Stewart
Book review : the emergence and evolution of markets
This article reviews the book "The emergence and evolution of markets" by Horst Brezinski and Michael Fritsch.
Book Review : Frustration of the liberals
Reviews the books `Liberalism After Communism,' by Jerzy Szacki, `Socialism, Capitalism, Transformation,' by Leszek Balcerowicz and `Poland's Protracted Transition: Institutional Change and Economic Growth in 1970-1994,' by Kazimierz Z. Poznanski.
Incomplete Demise : Reflections on the Welfare State in Poland after Communism
Discusses the welfare state in postcommunist Poland. Challenges facing postcommunist societies; Problem of the social safety net in Central Eastern Europe; Characteristics of the communist welfare state; Concern about the slow pace of public service reform; Attitudes toward market transformation.
The market meets its match : restructuring the economies of Eastern Europe
Explains why economic transition policies have failed and why the state must take a more active role in the reindustrialization of Eastern Europe. Examines the macroeconomics of the transition, describing how it was derailed by poor policy design and structural barriers. Considers whether the free market approach to enterprise restructuring was the appropriate one in light of the actual problems state-owned enterprises were encountering. Discusses the limitations of the market mechanism in semi-industrialized countries, focusing on the apparent insufficiency of import liberalization, real wage reductions, relative price changes, and antimonopoly legislation to generate robust capitalist developments in these countries. Critically examines the World Bank's approach to the transition. Reviews structuralist and mainstream ideas about how state- and privately-owned enterprises may evolve and influence each other. Considers the challenges now faced by the postsocialist states and the extent to which they are understood by the intellectual and political elites of Eastern Europe. Examines the problem of state capacity; the various pressures to which the state is subject; and the state's ability to take an active role in reindustrialization in Eastern Europe. Amsden is at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Kochanowicz is at the University of Warsaw. Taylor is at the New School for Social Research. Index.
The Disappearing State: Poland's Three Years of Transition
In Eastern Europe in general, & in Poland in particular, the transformation process has been strongly antistatist, due to experiences under previous communist regimes & recent ideological trends. However, a state is an obstacle for the process of transformation. Because of the huge public sector inherited from communism & because of the inadequacy of the civil society, the state has many important roles to play in the process of transition. Needed is a state strong in a democratic sense, ie, a state characterized by a formal democracy, & by a deep social consensus, respect for the rule of law, & efficient & apolitical civil service. Modified AA
Polish Economists Lag Behind Changes in the Economy
This article focuses on the debate among Polish economists regarding the current state of the Polish economy. Jan Kulig and Adam Lipowski take a stand in the economic and political debate which takes place in Poland today. Readers who are unfamiliar with the particularities of the Polish transition deserve a few words of explanation about the context of the Lipowski and Kulig essay. Radical transition to a market economy started in Poland after 1989 with the end of communist rule. Introduction of stabilization measures, liberalization, and deregulation of the economy took place in terrifically dramatic circumstances. At that moment, the Polish economy was institutionally immensely different from a command model: most of the state-owned enterprises could decide what to produce and what prices to demand, while employee councils often had a decisive say in their management.
Kula Witold Legacy : A Colloquium In His Honor
Held By The Society Of Polish History Of The Polish Academy Of Sciences In Warsaw, February 13-14, 1989.
The Polish Economy And The Evolution Of Dependency
Papers originally presented at a conference in June 1985 at Bellagio, Italy.
Book review : Book On Economic Theory Of The Feudal System, 20 Years Later by Kula Witold
This article reviews the book On Economic Theory Of The Feudal System, 20 Years Later by Kula Witold
Book review : History Of Latin-America, Vol 2, 1870/1880-1929 – Polish
This article reviews the book "History Of Latin-America, Vol 2, 1870/1880-1929" by Mroziewicz, R. and Stemplowski,R.