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Theorizing socialism: a prologue to the “transition”
Author(s) -
VERDERY KATHERINE
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1991.18.3.02a00010
Subject(s) - prologue , socialism , politics , transition (genetics) , sociology , state socialism , political economy , political science , economic system , social science , economics , law , capitalism , history , communism , biochemistry , chemistry , archaeology , gene
The startling transformations of eastern European polities during 1989 offer anthropologists a remarkable opportunity: firsthand observation of the “transition from socialism,” the process by which the internal organization of these societies and their place within western political and economic circuits will be reconfigured. As a contribution to conceptualizing the possible forms of the transition, this article offers a theoretical model of the “socialism” from which these societies begin their departure. The article concludes by suggesting some research problems that follow from the model. [theory, socialism, eastern Europe, political economy, cultural politics, social change]