(Sociology 230 and Politics 214) Profs. Vujacic and Crowley
Fall 1997 Offices: King 305A and Rice 211
M, W, F: 3.30-4.20
Office hours: M, 11-12.30; Tu, 3-4.30 (Vujacic)
W, 2.30-3.30; F, 10.30-12 (Crowley)
Social Change and Political Transformation in Eastern Europe
Introduction
This course focuses on Eastern Europe as the first relatively backward
region in the world capitalist system. We will begin with some major theories
of social change and a historical introduction to the region. Next, we
will turn to communist revolutions, Stalinism, reform communism, the rise
of dissent, and the revolutions of 1989. Finally, we will discuss the problems
of the post-communist era, attempts to build democracy and capitalism,
the rise of nationalism, and social problems pertaining to the politics
of gender and labor. It is our hope that in studying the developmental
history of Eastern Europe, students will acquire not only historical knowledge
of the region and its problems, but also develop new conceptual tools for
studying social change in the non-Western world. As a region which has
undergone several cycles of economic and political transformation and tried
out different developmental models, but which still faces the challenge
of modernization, Eastern Europe provides a good starting point for analyzing
the problems of social change and political transformation in more general
fashion.
Plan of the Course
The course is divided into three parts.
In Part One (weeks 1-4) we will first compare and contrast Marxist and modernization approaches to the study of social change in an attempt to acquire the essential conceptual tools for understanding the historical transformation from traditional to modern forms of economic and political organization in the West. Next, we will examine some of the main factors that impeded the growth of capitalism and liberal institutions in Eastern Europe, relegating its peoples to a "semi-peripheral" status in the world capitalist system. What were the reasons for the "relative backwardness"of Eastern Europe vis-a-vis the Western countries and what were the political consequences of its economic lag? Finally, we will take a look at the developmental problems faced by the predominantly peasant societies of interwar Eastern Europe.
In Part Two (weeks 5-8) we will explore the rise of Communism as a developmental alternative to Western capitalism, beginning with an examination of the social base of communist movements and the sources of its attraction for intellectual elites. We will then move on to the reasons of discontent with the Stalinist model which led to the Polish and Hungarian revolts of 1956 and the Prague Spring of 1968. Why did so many intellectuals become disillusioned with "real, existing socialism" and why did they become dissidents? How was it that a multi-million working-class movement (Solidarity) arose in a socialist country ruled in the name of the interests of that very working class? Finally, how did communism collapse so quickly throughout Eastern Europe?
In Part Three (weeks 9-12), we explore the dilemmas posed by the demise
of communism as an alternative to Western capitalism and liberal democracy.
In particular, we focus on three distinct challenges which face post-communist
Eastern Europe: building democracy, market transformation, and the construction
of viable nation-states. More specifically, we try to show that these goals
are not always compatible and are sometimes contradictory, with the consequence
of exacerbating national and social tensions in the region. One tragic
example of the obstacles which nationalism has posed to socio-economic
and political transformation along liberal lines is the tragic war in former
Yugoslavia whose roots and course we explore in some detail (week 11).
We then move on to a consideration of post-communist social problems, especially
those relating to gender relations and the politics of labor.
Finally, we conclude with several essays on the problems of historical continuity and change in Eastern Europe, the Leninist legacy, and electoral patterns in an attempt to offer some speculative answers on the future of this troubled and highly important region of the world.
Course Requirements:
Two take-home exams: 2 x 25% (due at the end of weeks 6 and 9)
Final paper: 30%
Group computer project: 10%
Class participation/attendance 10%
Books: Gale Stokes, Three Eras of Political Change in Eastern Europe
Vladimir Tismaneanu, Reinventing Politics
Misha Glenny, The Fall of Yugoslavia
David Ost, Solidarity and the Politics of Anti-Politics
Gale Stokes, ed., From Stalinism to Pluralism (recommended)
Part One: Theories of Social Change and Eastern Europe
Week One: Karl Marx
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "Marx on the History of His Opinions," "Wage Labor and Capital," and "The Communist Manifesto," in Robert Tucker, ed., The Marx-Engels Reader, 3-7, 203-218, 469-501.
Robert Tucker, " Marxism and Modernization," in The Marxian
Revolutionary Idea, 93-129.
Week Two: Institutional Change and Modernization Theory
Samuel Huntington, Political Order in Changing Societies, 1-139.
Week Three: Industrialization West and East and Its Political Consequences
Immanuel Wallerstein, "Three Paths of National Development: Sixteenth
Century Europe."
Alexander Gerschenkron, Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective,
pp.5-30; 353-364.
Andrew Janos, "The Politics of Backwardness in Continental Europe,"
World Politics, 1989.
Gale Stokes, Three Eras of Political Change in Eastern Europe, 7-21;
37-66, 73-82.
Week Four: Eastern Europe Between the Wars
Hugh Seton-Watson, Eastern Europe Between the Wars. 1918-1941, pp.75-157.
Ken Jowitt, "The Socio-Cultural Basis of National Dependency in Peasant Countries," in
K.Jowitt, ed., Social Change in Romania, pp.1-30.
Andrew Janos, "The One-Party State and Social Mobilization: East
Europe Between the Wars," in S.Huntington and W.Moore, Authoritarian
Politics in Modern Society, 204-236.
Eugen Weber, "The Men of the Archangel," in George Mosse, ed.,
International Fascism, pp.317-343.
Part Two: The Triumph, Development and Demise of Communism in Eastern
Europe
Week Five: The Rise of Communism in Eastern Europe: Revolutions
and the Stalinist Phase
R.V. Burks, The Dynamics of Communism in Eastern Europe, 19-87.
Vladimir Tismaneanu, Reinventing Politics, pp.1-54.
Stokes, From Stalinism to Pluralism, 9-50; 58-77.
Czeslaw Milosz, The Captive Mind, pp.1-81.
Week Six: Reform Communism and Its Dilemmas: From 1956 to the Prague
Spring and Beyond
V. Bunce, "Socialism and Underdevelopment" in Sabrina P. Ramet,
ed., Adaptation and Transformation in Communist and Post-Communist Systems,
pp.79-110.
Tismaneanu, Reinventing Politics, 54-112.
Stokes, From Stalinism to Pluralism, 79-87; 100-114, 122-134; 150-155.
Frank Parkin, "System Contradiction and Political Transformation,"
in Giddens and Held,
Classes, Power, and Conflict, pp.574-588.
Week Seven: Mature Communism, the Rise of Civil Society and Social
Protest in Late Communism
Tismaneanu, pp.113-117; 133-174.
David Ost, Solidarity, 1-149.
Stokes, From Stalinism to Pluralism, 175-180; 193-215; 225-231.
Week Eight: The Collapse of Communism and the Revolutions of 1989
Vaclav Havel, "The Power of the Powerless" in Cross Currents,
1983, pp.3-23.
Tismaneanu, Reinventing Politics, 175-239.
Andrei Codrescu, "The Death of a Dictator," in Codrescu, The
Hole in the Flag, pp.25-51.
Gale Stokes, Three Eras of Change, pp.161-180.
Katherine Verdery, "What Was Socialism, and Why Did It Fall?,"
in Verdery, What Was Socialism and What Comes Next?, pp.19-38.
Timur Kuran, "Now Out of Never: The Element of Surprise in the East
European Revolution of 1989," World Politics, October 1991.
Stokes, From Stalinism to Pluralism, pp.242-253.
Part Three. Post-Communism and Its Challenges
Week Nine: The Challenge of Democratic Transformation
Tismaneanu, pp.241-277.
Claus Offe, "Capitalism by Democratic Design: Democratic Theory Facing
the Triple Transition in East Central Europe," Social Research,
Winter 1991.
Laszlo Bruszt and David Stark, "Remaking the Political Field in
Hungary: From the Politics of Confrontation to the Politics of Competition,"
in Ivo Banac, ed., Eastern Europe in Revolution, pp.13-56.
Stephen Holmes, "Conceptions of Democracy," and John Hall, "After
the Vacuum," in Beverly Crawford, ed., Markets, States, and Democracy,
pp.71-100.
Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus, "Rival Visions of Civil Society,"
Journal of Democracy, January 1996.
Week Ten: The Challenge of Market Transformation
Beverly Crawford, "Post-Communist Political Economy: A Framework for
the Analysis of Reform," in B. Crawford, ed., Markets, States,
and Democracy, pp.3-43.
Jeffrey Sachs, "What Is To Be Done," Economist, January
13, 1990.
Adam Przeworski, "The Neo-Liberal Fallacy," Journal of Democracy, July 1992.
Ivan Berend, "Alternatives of Transformation: Choices and Determinants--East
Central Europe in the 1990s," in Crawford, pp.130-150.
Kazimierz Poznanski, "Political Economy of Privatization in Eastern
Europe," in Crawford, pp.204-227.
Alec Nove, "Economics of Transition: Some Gaps and Illusions,"
in Crawford, pp.227-246.
Week Eleven: The Challenge of Nation-Building and Nationalism
D.Chirot. "National Liberation and Nationalist Nightmares," in Crawford, ed., pp.43-71.
R.V.Burks, "The Yugoslav Epic," in The Dynamics of Communism
in Eastern Europe, pp.107-130.
Gale Stokes, "The Devil's Finger: The Disintegration of Yugoslavia,"
in Stokes, Three Eras of Change, pp.109-144 (optional).
Misha Glenny, The Fall of Yugoslavia.
Stokes, From Stalinism to Pluralism, pp.255-288.
Week Twelve: Post-Communist Gender, Labor, and Social Politics.
K.Verdery, "From Parent-State to Family Patriarchs: Gender and Nation
in Contemporary Eastern Europe," "Faith, Hope, and Caritas in
the Land of the Pyramids, Romania, 1990-1994"
in Verdery, What Was Socialism and What Comes Next, pp.61-83;
168-204.
Tannya Renne, ed., Anna's Land: Sisterhood in Eastern Europe, pp.26-41;
52-60; 72-81; 118-132; 136-145; 154-157; 169-172.
David Ost, "Labor, Class, and Democracy: Shaping Political Antagonisms
in Post-Communist Society," in Crawford, ed., pp.177-204.
Jirina Siklova, "What Did We Lose After 1989?" Social Research,
Summer 1996, pp.531-541.
Conclusion
Week 13. What Future for Eastern Europe? Dilemmas of Post-Communism
Ken Jowitt, "Dizzy with Democracy," Problems of Post-Communism,
Jan-Feb. 1996, pp.3-8.
Andrew Janos, "Continuity and Change in Eastern Europe: Strategies
of Post-Communist Politics," in Crawford, ed., pp.150-177.
Milada Vachudova and Tim Snyder, "Are Transitions Transitory? Two
Types of Political Change in Eastern Europe Since 1989," East European
Politics and Societies, No.1, Winter 1997, pp.1-35.
Gale Stokes, Three Eras of Change, pp.181-203.