Post-communist Welfare Capitalisms: Bringing Institutions and Political Agency Back In

This article explores the post-communist worlds of welfare capitalism in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe, including the successor states of the former Soviet Union. It discusses recent developments, whilst offering some additional theoretical reflections on the key factors that have shaped welfare state change over time. The text explores key institutional features characterising these worlds of welfare capitalism in transition. In order to highlight the actions of political elites in the market, we discuss the notions of “state-enabled”, “state-influenced” and “state-interfered” market economies. In this article, we introduce the term “captured welfare systems” to refer to the ways in which some states and political elites interfere in the market in order to capture resources. In the conclusion, we move beyond classical approaches to institutional change based on path-dependency and lock-in arguments, drawing attention to the importance of bringing institutions and political agency back into the analysis of welfare and its transformations.political economy of welfare capitalism, captured welfare system, Central and Eastern Europe, South Eastern Europe, former Soviet Union

Social policy and international interventions in South East Europe: conclusions

This book has brought together three fields of study; that concerned with the role of international actors and their influence on national polices; changes taking place to social policies in the context of globalisation, transnationalism and Europeanisation; and the political transformations taking place in South Eastern Europe. It has reported the results of empirical investigations into recent changes in social policy in the region and the ways in which transnational actors are influencing these changes. We divide this concluding chapter into three parts. The first part summarises the actual developments in social policy in the countries of the region and the several and diverse ways in which international actors have, to varying degrees, been influential. We then draw some analytical conclusions arguing how the case studies lead to changes in the ways social scientists should make sense of: the role of international actors engaged in transnational policy making including that of the EU; the role and nature of states in this “multi-level and multi-actor“ process; and the prospects for social policy and the diversity of welfare regimes. Finally we make suggestions about the kind of research that is needed to advance understanding in these inter-related areas

Croatian Accession to the European Union: Facing the Challenges of Negotiations

The paper discusses aspects of Croatian social policy, particularly social inclusion and social dialogue, in the context of Croatia’s status as a candidate country for accession to the EU. It describes the development of a European Social Model demonstrating that, notwithstanding certain problems, significant achievements have been made within the EU. Social dialogue has evolved from consultation to social governance, and the open method of co-ordination is implemented not only regarding employment issues but also in the social inclusion process. Furthermore, European concerns have been extended to the fields of pensions and health care, which will be addressed in future joint EU Social Protection Reports. The paper notes the salience of social policy issues in previous waves of accession. Analysis of Croatian welfare reforms shows that, thus far, the EU impact has been very limited. The paper calls for strengthened efforts, by Croatia and the EU, to ensure that aspects of social policy and the European Social Model are more systematically discussed, addressed and implemented as Croatia proceeds towards EU membership.Social Europe, European Social Model, social policy, social protection, social inclusion, social dialogue, open method of co-ordination, accession, welfare reforms, Croatia, European Union

Yugocentrism and the Study of the Non-Aligned Movement: Towards a Decolonial Historiography

There has been a renewed scholarly interest in recent years concerning the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). This text addresses some of the challenges posed by focusing on NAM through a lens of Yugocentrism that is reliant on socialist Yugoslav sources alone. To reinsert socialist Yugoslavia into a global historiography, one needs to perform a double movement: The first part concerns bringing Yugoslavia back into global social relations; the second part concerns decentring its positionality and ensuring that other sites of analysis and struggle, and the relations between them, are taken into consideration. Seeing NAM as a prefigurative, multi-nodal, networked community rather than a traditional international organization suggests that privileging one node at the expense of others will lead to a distorted and incomplete analysis. This paper addresses the complex relationship between the Bandung Afro-Asian conference of April 1955 and the Belgrade NAM summit of September 1961. NAM and the G-77 are also studied as overlapping groupings in terms of membership and objectives. The paper contributes to the development of a critical decolonial historiography of the Cold War period that addresses the need for multi-sited, para-sited, and meta-historiographies by going beyond Yugocentrism whilst still retaining a nuanced concern with global Yugoslavia across different conjunctures

Postkomunistički socijalni kapitalizam: ponovno razmatranje utjecaja institucija i političkog djelovanja

This article explores the post-communist worlds of welfare capitalism in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe, including the successor states of the former Soviet Union. It discusses recent developments, whilst offering some additional theoretical reflections on the key factors that have shaped welfare state change over time. The text explores key institutional features characterising these worlds of welfare capitalism in transition. In order to highlight the actions of political elites in the market, we discuss the notions of “state-enabled”, “state-influenced” and “state-interfered” market economies. In this article, we introduce the term “captured welfare systems” to refer to the ways in which some states and political elites interfere in the market in order to capture resources. In the conclusion, we move beyond classical approaches to institutional change based on path-dependency and lock-in arguments, drawing attention to the importance of bringing institutions and political agency back into the analysis of welfare and its transformations.U radu se istražuje postkomunistički svijet socijalnog kapitalizma u Srednjoj, Istočnoj i Jugoistočnoj Europi, uključujući države sljednice Sovjetskog Saveza. Razmatraju se novija događanja, uz teorijski osvrt na ključne čimbenike koji su utjecali na promjene socijalne države tijekom vremena. Istražuju se ključne institucionalne značajke socijalnog kapitalizma tijekom tranzicije. Kako bismo naglasili djelovanje političkih elita na tržištu, razmatramo pojmove „tržišna ekonomija koju omogućuje država“, „tržišna ekonomija pod državnim utjecajem“ i „tržišna ekonomija koju karakterizira upletanje države“. U radu se uvodi pojam „zarobljene socijalne politike“ što se odnosi na načine na koji se neke države i političke elite uključuju na tržište kako bi prisvojili resurse. U zaključku se odmičemo od klasičnih pristupa institucionalnim promjenama koji naglašavaju utjecaj povijesnog nasljeđa – u smislu ovisnosti o prijeđenom putu (path dependency) ili uhodanih načina odlučivanja (lock-in) – te ukazujemo na važnost ponovnog uvođenja institucija i političkog djelovanja (political agency) u analizu socijalnih politika i njihovih transformacija

Extended social Europe? Social policy, social inclusion and social dialogue in Croatia and the European Union

The paper discusses aspects of Croatian social policy, particularly social inclusion and social dialogue, in the context of Croatia's status as a candidate country for accession to the EU. It describes the development of a European Social Model demonstrating that, notwithstanding certain problems, significant achievements have been made within the EU. Social dialogue has evolved from consultation to social governance, and the open method of co-ordination is implemented not only regarding employment issues but also in the social inclusion process. Furthermore, European concerns have been extended to the fields of pensions and health care, which will be addressed in future joint EU Social Protection Reports. The paper notes the salience of social policy issues in previous waves of accession. Analysis of Croatian welfare reforms shows that, thus far, the EU impact has been very limited. The paper calls for strengthened efforts, by Croatia and the EU, to ensure that aspects of social policy and the European Social Model are more systematically discussed, addressed and implemented as Croatia proceeds towards EU membership

Postkomunistički socijalni kapitalizam: ponovno razmatranje utjecaja institucija i političkog djelovanja

This article explores the post-communist worlds of welfare capitalism in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe, including the successor states of the former Soviet Union. It discusses recent developments, whilst offering some additional theoretical reflections on the key factors that have shaped welfare state change over time. The text explores key institutional features characterising these worlds of welfare capitalism in transition. In order to highlight the actions of political elites in the market, we discuss the notions of “state-enabled”, “state-influenced” and “state-interfered” market economies. In this article, we introduce the term “captured welfare systems” to refer to the ways in which some states and political elites interfere in the market in order to capture resources. In the conclusion, we move beyond classical approaches to institutional change based on path-dependency and lock-in arguments, drawing attention to the importance of bringing institutions and political agency back into the analysis of welfare and its transformations.U radu se istražuje postkomunistički svijet socijalnog kapitalizma u Srednjoj, Istočnoj i Jugoistočnoj Europi, uključujući države sljednice Sovjetskog Saveza. Razmatraju se novija događanja, uz teorijski osvrt na ključne čimbenike koji su utjecali na promjene socijalne države tijekom vremena. Istražuju se ključne institucionalne značajke socijalnog kapitalizma tijekom tranzicije. Kako bismo naglasili djelovanje političkih elita na tržištu, razmatramo pojmove „tržišna ekonomija koju omogućuje država“, „tržišna ekonomija pod državnim utjecajem“ i „tržišna ekonomija koju karakterizira upletanje države“. U radu se uvodi pojam „zarobljene socijalne politike“ što se odnosi na načine na koji se neke države i političke elite uključuju na tržište kako bi prisvojili resurse. U zaključku se odmičemo od klasičnih pristupa institucionalnim promjenama koji naglašavaju utjecaj povijesnog nasljeđa – u smislu ovisnosti o prijeđenom putu (path dependency) ili uhodanih načina odlučivanja (lock-in) – te ukazujemo na važnost ponovnog uvođenja institucija i političkog djelovanja (political agency) u analizu socijalnih politika i njihovih transformacija

Društveni utjecaji emigracije i migracija selo–grad u Hrvatskoj: 1991. – 2011.

The paper explores the social impacts of emigration and rural-urban migration in Croatia, focusing on the period from 1991 to 2011. In this period, Croatia has experienced conflict and post-conflict-induced population movements, followed by a period of normalization of migration flows. The paper explores, in detail, labour migration and impacts on labour markets, in the context of skills shortages in Croatia. The role of remittances and social security agreements are also addressed. The paper addresses the problems of institutional support and of migration policy, making a series of recommendations for policy makers to minimize the social costs of migration and, instead, ensure that migration contributes to social development.U radu se istražuju društveni utjecaji emigracije i migracija selo–grad u Hrvatskoj, posebice između 1991. i 2011. U tom razdoblju u Hrvatskoj je došlo do kretanja stanovništva potaknutoga ratnim i poratnim događajima, nakon čega je nastupilo razdoblje normalizacije migracijskih tokova. U radu se detaljno istražuju radne migracije i njihov utjecaj na tržišta rada u kontekstu nedostatka kvalificirane radne snage u Hrvatskoj. Osim toga rad ispituje ulogu doznaka i socijalnih sporazuma. Nakon rasprave o problemima institucionalne potpore i migracijske politike autori daju niz preporuka kreatorima politike za smanjivanje društvenih troškova migracija kako bi one pridonijele društvenom razvoju