The State against Society: Political Crises and Their Aftermath in East Central Europe / Edition 1

by Grzegorz Ekiert

Overview

Classical images of state-socialism developed in contemporary social sciences were founded on simple presuppositions. State-socialist regimes were considered to be politically stable due to their pervasive institutional and ideological control over the everyday lives of their citizens, impervious to reform and change, and representative of extreme political and economic dependency. Despite their contrasting historical experiences, they have been treated as basically identical in their institutional design, social and economic structures, and policies. Grzegorz Ekiert challenges this notion in a comparative analysis of the major political crises in post-1945 East Central Europe: Hungary (1956-63), Czechoslovakia (1968-76), and Poland (1980-89).


The author maintains that the nature and consequences of these crises can better explain the distinctive experiences of East Central European countries under communist rule than can the formal characteristics of their political and economic systems or their politically dependent status. He explores how political crises reshaped party-state institutions, redefined relations between party and state institutions, altered the relationship between the state and various groups and organizations within society, and modified the political practices of these regimes. He shows how these events transformed cultural categories, produced collective memories, and imposed long-lasting constraints on mass political behavior and the policy choices of ruling elites. These crises shaped the political evolution of the region, produced important cross-national differences among state-socialist regimes, and contributed to the distinctive patterns of their collapse.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691011134
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	10/20/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	7.75(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Grzegorz Ekiert is Associate Professor of Government at Harvard University.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments
Ch. 1	Introduction: Political Crises, Mobilization, and Demobilization in East Central Europe	3
Pt. I	The Political Crisis and Its Aftermath in Hungary, 1956-1963	37
Ch. 2	The Party-State and Society during the Hungarian Revolution	42
Ch. 3	The Soviet Invasion and the Defeat of the Revolution	65
Ch. 4	The Political Crisis, Demobilization, and Regime Reequilibration in Hungary	99
Pt. II	The Political Crisis and Its Aftermath in Czechoslovakia, 1968-1976	121
Ch. 5	The Party-State and Society during the Prague Spring	126
Ch. 6	The End of Socialism with a Human Face	162
Ch. 7	The Political Crisis, Demobilization, and Regime Reequilibration in Czechoslovakia	198
Pt. III	The Political Crisis and Its Aftermath in Poland, 1980-1989	215
Ch. 8	The Party-State and Society during the Solidarity Period	222
Ch. 9	Poland under Martial Law and After	257
Ch. 10	The Political Crisis and the Failure of Demobilization and Regime Reequilibration	283
Ch. 11	Conclusions: Patterns and Legacies of Political Crisis, Demobilization, and Regime Reequilibration in East Central Europe	305
Notes	331
Bibliography	405
Index	431

Editorial Reviews

Winner of the 1996 Orbis Polish Book Prize, American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies

From the Publisher