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Brucan, a former Romanian ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, provides the first social history of the remarkable transition from communism to capitalism in Russia and Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He begins with an examination of the old social structure in communist societies, which used to be cosmetically advertised by the party and officialdom, paying particular attention to the
nomenklatura, who have miraculously transformed themselves into big businessmen and bankers. A chapter is devoted to the decline of the working class, whom Brucan shows to be the big loser in the revolution.
He then examines the new social stratification, illustrating how the new classes are taking shape under the conditions created by market reform. The symbiosis between capital and power is analyzed in depth, and Ambassador Brucan concludes his study with a look at the direction the social transformations are pushing these societies, particularly the separate paths being followed by Russia and Eastern Europe. This is an important study for researchers, scholars, and policy makers involved with Russia and Eastern Europe.
Sommario
Introduction
Social Structure in Communist StatesNomenklatura: Class or Social Group?
Subordinated Classes
Leasership and Apparat
Decline of the Working ClassIn Capitalism
In Socialism
Communist Reaction to New Technologies
The Odyssey of the Manual Worker
Where the Market Squeezed In
The Political Verdict of Social Differentiation
The New Social Structure after 19891990 and 1991: Petrification of the Old Structure in Romania
The First Social Earthquake
The Dislocation Process
Introduction to the Middle Class
The Middle Class: Key Factor in Market Reform
Russia without a Middle Class
A "Wild Middle Class" in Romania
Millionaires in Five Years! How Did They Do It?
The Symbiosis Power-Capital
The Social Condition of Integration in NATO and European Community
Epilogue: Whither Russia and Eastern Europe?
Notes
Info autore
SILVIU BRUCAN has had a long and distinguished career as an activist, diplomat, and scholar. He participated in the anti-fascist underground during World War II and was a leading dissident of the Ceausescu dictatorship and one of the leaders of the revolution of December 1989. He served as Romania's ambassador to the United States (1956-59) and to the United Nations (1959-62). He is the author of six earlier books in English, including
The Wasted Generation and
Pluralism and Social Conflict (Praeger, 1990).
