Title: Il lungo presente della transizione. Dalla società comunista alla scelta privata (The long present of the transition. From communist society to the private choice) – Futuribili 3
Author: Del Bianco D., Sterpini M. (cur.)
Year: 2007
Publisher: Franco Angeli, Milano
Pages: 224
Language: Italian
Abstract: The issue comprises two parts: the first one deals with the relationship between democracy and globalization as generators of the transition, the second one compares transitions in developed countries previously experiencing ‘real socialism’.
In the first part, Gasparini shows that the revolution is composed of social deconstruction and restructuring phases and in the latter social Darwinism plays a significant role. Kornai analyzes, from a macro-sociological and interpretative perspective, the changes that characterized the transition of Central and Eastern Europe, identifying its key features. Vanhuysse decodes the economic policies implemented by countries in transition, outlining the new role of the welfare state in transition processes. Csepeli interprets the transition of the “small states” of Central Europe, both from the perspective of nation-states and of collective identities. Bonanate reads transition and democracy in the light of the most recent historical challenges posed by the rough democratization path.
In the second part Puscas, in a predominantly institutionalist perspective, describes the different phases of the post-communist Romanian political transition. Bakirov and Fisun, using the concept of patrimonialism, fundamental in the Weberian sociology, analyze the development of the Ukrainian transition of the nineties. Melville proposes the elaboration of a complex interpretation paradigm for the transition in Russia, through an empirical survey on cultural variables. Pasquino problematizes the Italian phase of profound socio-political and institutional instability and never-ending transition, considering the three elements that make up a system: the authorities, the regime and the political community. Hettlage deals with the peculiarities of the German transition process, trying to explain in what way Germany can be studied as one of the paradigmatic cases of Hettlage deals with the peculiarities of the German transition process trying to explain in what way Germany can be studied as one of the paradigmatic cases of country in transition within the European context.
