Transformations in Central Europe between 1989 and 2012
Geopolitical, Cultural, and Socioeconomic Shifts
By (author) Tomas Kavaliauskas
Publication date:
31 August 2012Length of book:
208 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksDimensions:
234x159mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9780739174104
Transformations in Central Europe between 1989 and 2012: Geopolitical, Cultural, and Socioeconomic Shifts by Tomas Kavaliauskas, is an in-depth study of the transformations in Central Europe in the years since the fall of Communism. Using a comparative analysis of geopolitical, ethical, cultural, and socioeconomic shifts, this essential text investigates postcommunist countries including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovenia.
Next to transitological interpretations, this study ventures upon negative and positive freedom (Isaiah Berlin) in Central Europe after two decades of post-communist transition. Kavaliauskas questions the meaning of completeness of postcommunist transition, both geopolitical and socioeconomic, when there are many transformations that do not necessarily mean unequivocal progress. The author also analyses why Central Europe in 1989, armed with civil disobedience, could not maintain its moral politics. But the book touches sensitive issues of memory as well: an examination of May 9th is provided from the Russian and the Baltic perspectives, revealing two opposing world views regarding this date of liberation or occupation. Finally, Kavaliauskas analyzes the tragedy at Smolensk airport, which became an inseparable part of Central European identity. Transformations in Central Europe between 1989 and 2012 is an essential contribution to the literature on Central Europe and the lasting effects of Communism and its aftermath.
Next to transitological interpretations, this study ventures upon negative and positive freedom (Isaiah Berlin) in Central Europe after two decades of post-communist transition. Kavaliauskas questions the meaning of completeness of postcommunist transition, both geopolitical and socioeconomic, when there are many transformations that do not necessarily mean unequivocal progress. The author also analyses why Central Europe in 1989, armed with civil disobedience, could not maintain its moral politics. But the book touches sensitive issues of memory as well: an examination of May 9th is provided from the Russian and the Baltic perspectives, revealing two opposing world views regarding this date of liberation or occupation. Finally, Kavaliauskas analyzes the tragedy at Smolensk airport, which became an inseparable part of Central European identity. Transformations in Central Europe between 1989 and 2012 is an essential contribution to the literature on Central Europe and the lasting effects of Communism and its aftermath.
In a 1980 essay on central Europe, Timothy Garton Ash observed that central Europeans are the "Europeans who ... know what it is really about and we can learn from them." It is "the kingdom of the spirit." Kavaliauskas's work should be read with Garton Ash's words in mind; it underscores that central Europe is still unique in so many ways. A major strength of the book is that Kavaliauskas (a Lithuanian) brings the Baltic states very much back into the discourse about central Europe. There is more to central Europe than Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and the Balkans. However, this is basically a series of essays on culture, memory, history, identity, and philosophy; it is not a social science analysis of "stages of transition and consolidated democratization," but rather thoughtful and learned reflections on a profound historical moment of a region still caught between East (Russia) and West. The transition and transformations are still not complete. Having achieved a "negative freedom," can central Europe make positive use of the freedom that it gained in 1989? From the Pink Tank case to profound questions of memory, readers can still learn from Kavaliauskas's reflections. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate, research, and professional collections.