New ideas of socialism

This paper discusses attempts to rethink socialism in the light of recent economic, social and political developments such as the rise of neo-liberalism, post-fordism, the demise of state socialism and globalization. It posits four new revisionist models of socialism - individualist socialism, market socialism, citizenship (or radical democratic) socialism and associational socialism. It examines each critically, arguing against the first and second models and in favour of the third and fourth. Associationalism, it is argued, provides a means for achieving the goals of citizenship or radical democratic socialism - a participatory pluralist and communitarian socialism. Associationalism, based on a strong role for associations in civil society and a co-operative polity, is outlined and advocated

Book review: Socialist escapes: breaking away from ideology and everyday routine in Eastern Europe, 1945-1989

"Socialist Escapes: Breaking Away from Ideology and Everyday Routine in Eastern Europe, 1945-1989." Cathleen Giustino, Catherine Plum and Alexander Vari (eds.). Berghahn Books. April 2013. --- During much of the Cold War, escape from countries in the East Bloc was a near impossible act. There remained, however, possibilities for other socialist escapes, particularly time away from party ideology and the mundane routines of everyday life. The essays in this volume seek to examine sites of socialist escapes, such as beaches, camp sites, and concerts, and explore the effectiveness of state efforts to engineer society through leisure. Cultural historians and sociologists will appreciate this fascinating glimpse into cultural life under state socialism, writes Eleanor Bindman

Friedrich von Hayek: The Socialist-Calculation Debate, Knowledge Arguments, And Modern Economic Development

At the close of the nineteenth and the commencement of the twentieth century, socialism began to gain momentum as a large-scale movement in Europe and the United States. This popularity was supported by an increased influence of the working class in society, which put pressure for representation upon European parliaments and began to secure concrete improvements in labor protection laws. Moreover, socialist proponents looked hopefully towards the living example of the Soviet Union, which began its socialist experiment in 1917 following the success of the Bolshevik Revolution. Socialism, which found its economic grounding in the legacies of such men as David Ricardo and Karl Marx, tended to encourage a more central and vital role for government intervention in the economy. Thus economists who favored a socialist-oriented change in contemporary societies began to develop theories intended to address such issues as “where, when and how the state should intervene in economic life” and how societies might be successfully reorganized so as to be based upon these new precepts. [excerpt

Institutional transition and the problem of credible commitment

During the last phase of state socialism, the economic reforms attempted by these counties didn’t stop the collapse of communism. Neither did the free market economic reforms in the democratic West starting around 1975 bring progress and prosperity expected. The frustrations of both these attempts of transformation make it clear that the goal of social transition would not be achieved without liberal limits on the state - what was created to ward off private predation, which itself became a greater problem of predation. Indeed, we can only ensure the effective function of the society by establishing the self-sustaining constitution and enforcing credible commitment that bind the public institutions

Review of the book \u3ci\u3eThe Chinese Worker After Socialism\u3c/i\u3e

In The Chinese Worker after Socialism, William Hurst employs subnational comparison to explain different outcomes for workers in the process of reform of state-owned industry in China. In particular, Hurst provides in-depth analysis of regional variation of the sequencing and volume of layoffs, how the local state attempted to handle unemployment, actual outcomes in re-employment, and the dynamics of worker protest. By taking subnational regions as the unit of analysis, we see that the process of smashing the iron rice bowl has not been a unified and coherent project but rather one that has been messy, uneven, and subject to great variation in timing and outcomes. This variation is explained by differences in the political economy of each region

Rescuing the middle ground: neo-liberalism and associational socialism

This paper replies to Peter Saunders' critique of my ‘New ideas of socialism’ and takes the debate further by clarifying my advocacy of ‘associational socialism’ and making a more general critique of neo-liberalism. The combination of decentralization and co-operative co-ordination envisaged in the idea of associationalism’ is defended and clarified. It is argued that repression is not necessarily inherent in socialist ends. Libertarians are seen to be poor liberals with a limited and unambitious concept of freedom which focuses on the dangers of state power but glosses over economic and social threats to liberty. It is argued that socialism should be about balancing liberal and socialist principles rather than opting for one side over the other

Prospects of the Civil Society Development in Post-socialist Conditions

This study is directed to the analysis of contradictions and development prospects of that social reality in which civil society characteristics become apparent. Discourse about civil society in post-socialism is extremely polarized. Civil society is represented both as «rescue» and as colonial policy of Western countries. In general, the research of a civil society should take into consideration informal practices that are considered to be central both in state socialism and in post-socialism. Individualism principle and «open» society, consisting of individuums, that are connected not only by formal relationships should give place to «community of communities» principle. This creates the necessity to transform the system of values that determine economic behavior of individuums into the development of corporatism and collectivism. This paper stresses the significance of presence in a society of individually-psychological and morally-ethical factors that make possible the functioning of network-based information society in post-socialism conditions

Post-Manichean Economics: Foreign Investment, State Capacity and Economic Development in Transition Economies

This paper evaluates the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the transition from socialism to capitalism. Fixed-effects panel regressions indicate that FDI and domestic investment have an equal effect on growth in the first year of investment, but over time FDI is associated with greater growth than domestic investment. However, this positive impact of FDI turns out to be contingent upon the presence of a relatively well-functioning state in the host economy; in the absence of such a state, the net effect of FDI on economic development may be negative. All findings are robust in light of instrumental variable estimation, which is used to account for potential endogeneity problems.

Is State Socialism Viable?

This lecture by Pedro Campos Santos explores state socialism as a state construction in Cuba and the economic, political and social factors that lead to its failure. Campos Santos is a researcher and former diplomat who holds a B.A. in History from the University of Havana.https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cri_events/1297/thumbnail.jp