The Postsocialist States in Southeast Europe: Challenges and Dilemmas

The author argues that neo-liberal approach to post-socialist economic transformation and development seriously misinterprets the role of the state. He develops his argument by analysing the experience of Southeast European (SEE) states. He first demonstrates that in order to transform post-socialist state dominated societies into market societies it is not enough to roll-back and decompose the state, since the very constitution of market society is political per se, but a different type of political institutions must be constructed. In the next section he discusses market and democracy dilemma, in order to show that, both in principle and in particular (concerning SEE), expected benefits of their coupling may not come forward, particularly not in a stylised liberal-democratic form. Section three discusses major political-economy dilemma of the postsocialist state – the one between accumulation and legitimation – in order to show that inability to resolve this dilemma may easily compromise transformational politics of marketisation and democratisation. Particularly, lack of growth may lead societies towards experimentation with, potentially even radical, alternatives, thus questioning both sides of the transition equation, that is market and democracy. In the section four demands for the welfare and for the developmental state are discussed and associated challenges to liberal democracy examined. Finally, in the concluding section, the author discusses some conditions for consolidation of marketisation and democratisation in postsocialist societies, particularly those of SEE