Economy and Politics in the 20th Century Eastern Europe - JTM267

• Title: Economy and Politics in the 20th Century Eastern Europe
• Guaranteed by: Department of Russian and East European Studies (23-KRVS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2023
• Semester: winter
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: winter s.:combined
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:1/1, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: 20 / unknown (20)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• Key competences: critical thinking
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment; priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
• Guarantor: Mgr. Karel Svoboda, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): Mgr. Karel Svoboda, Ph.D.
• Class: Courses for incoming students
• Incompatibility : JMM143

Annotation

Last update: Mgr. Jiřina Tomečková (26.09.2023)

The course offers an introduction to economic development in Central and Eastern Europe. It covers the time range of 1945-2010 (or, more precisely, from the end of WWII to the World Financial Crisis). Its main aim is to explore the political economy of the area, divergencies, and convergencies in the countries' developments. It should not be a history of the region but an explanation of the functioning of the political economy in the example of the aforementioned area. Territorially, it deals with the East-Central European countries, excluding former Yugoslavia (the country will be covered only to the extent of its interaction with other socialist countries. The course applies general concepts to the reality of Central and Eastern Europe. Thematically, the course is divided into two parts, with the relations and conditions within the socialist bloc being the first part and the post-socialist reality as the second. The course should give the students the ability to approach the affairs in Central Europe in their complexity and critically evaluate the differences and common points of the countries within the region.

Aim of the course

Last update: Mgr. Jiřina Tomečková (26.09.2023)

The course aims at introducing the problems of the political economy of Central Europe to the students who are newcomers to these issues. It explains the diversities and similarities of the countries inside the V4 (roughly) region. Students should be able to apply general rules of functioning of the political economy in this particular example. 

Course completion requirements

Last update: Bc. Sára Lochmanová (05.10.2023)

Please, note that any instance of plagiarism (use of other people's thoughts, ideas without referencing them etc.) leads instantly to the "fail" mark in the whole course and the case is sent to the Disciplinary board of the Faculty of Social Sciences (or your home university). Using your own paper for more than one course is regareded as self-plagiarism. 

More in SMĚRNICE S_SO_002: Organizace zkouškových termínů, kontrol studia a užívání klasifikace A–F na FSV UK.

Literature

Last update: Mgr. Jiřina Tomečková (26.09.2023)

Berend, Ivan,  From the Soviet Bloc to the European Union The Economic and Social Transformation of Central and Eastern Europe since 1973, Cambridge, 2009.

Brown, Archie, The Rise and Fall of Communism, London, 2009.

Drahokoupil Jan, Myant Martin, Transition Economies: Political Economy in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, John Wiley and son, 2011.

Eichengreen, Barry, The European Economy since 1945 (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2008).

Judt, Tony, Postwar, London, 2006.

Kornai, Janos, The Socialist System: Political Economy of Communism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992).

Kovács, János, Tardos, Marton, Reform and transformation in Eastern Europe, London and New York, 2005.

Rotschild, Joseph, Wingfield, Nancy, Return to Diversity, A Political History of East Central Europe Since World War II, Oxford, 2000.

Stone, Randall, Satellites and Commissars, Strategy and Conflict in the Politics of Soviet Bloc trade, Princeton, 2002.

Turnock, David, The Economy of East Central Europe, 1815-1989, London and New York, 2006.

Wagener, Hans Jurgen (ed.), Economic Thought in Communist and Post-Communist Europe, London, 1998. 

Teaching methods

Last update: Mgr. Karel Svoboda, Ph.D. (20.09.2023)

the course takes part in Jinonice 

 Reading and other materials may be found in moodle: https://dl2.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=3967

We are not in high school. Therefore, lecturing should be a minor part of our work. Students are expected to read asserted papers and be able to discuss them. Everyone has to be able to say something, critically assert what was read, and bring his/her ideas. There are no silly questions (except for "What's the time?"), so do not hesitate to ask about anything. There are also no silly remarks or questions.

There are no prerequisites for previous economic training or any particular knowledge of the central European events in the past. The papers will be chosen to be accessible also for non-economists. Only your ability to read, think, and ask questions is expected. On the contrary, the contribution from other fields might be especially enriching. 

Requirements to the exam

Last update: Mgr. Jiřina Tomečková (26.09.2023)

Reading will be the first and foremost obligation. The course should help you to understand what happened in Central Europe after WWII from the political economy point of view. Therefore active participation in the discussions will be essential. As stated above, everybody should be able to say something (nothing like "I do not know..."), because our classes may be only as good as active you are. 

Furthermore, an oral presentation on the topic selected from the list provided by the instructor. The presentation should be 10-15 minutes, built on solid data. It should support the author's view. The form (PowerPoint or not) is on the author's preference. 

Midterm - based on multiple choice. Aims at the knowledge of the names, events etc. Via Moodle 

The final exam is based on open-answer questions that aim at understanding the topic in a broader perspective. Therefore, the question will not be "who was Janos Kadar", but "how would you characterize "normalization in Czechoslovakia".  

The value of the assignments: 

1) participation - 10

2) Oral presentation - 20

3) Midterm - 20

4) Final exam 50

 

Grading from the total result is determined as follows:

• 91 and more = A

• 81 - 90 % = B

• 71 - 80 % = C

• 61 - 70 % = D

• 51 - 60 % = E

• 0 - 50 % = F

In case of any uncertainty, please, do not hesitate and contact me via email ([e-mail]) or come and see me during my office hours (will be specified). 

 

Berend, Ivan,  From the Soviet Bloc to the European Union The Economic and Social Transformation of Central and Eastern Europe since 1973, Cambridge, 2009.

Brown, Archie, The Rise and Fall of Communism, London, 2009.

Drahokoupil Jan, Myant Martin, Transition Economies: Political Economy in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, John Wiley and son, 2011.

Eichengreen, Barry, The European Economy since 1945 (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2008).

Judt, Tony, Postwar, London, 2006.

Kornai, Janos, The Socialist System: Political Economy of Communism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992).

Kovács, János, Tardos, Marton, Reform and transformation in Eastern Europe, London and New York, 2005.

Rotschild, Joseph, Wingfield, Nancy, Return to Diversity, A Political History of East Central Europe Since World War II, Oxford, 2000.

Stone, Randall, Satellites and Commissars, Strategy and Conflict in the Politics of Soviet Bloc trade, Princeton, 2002.

Turnock, David, The Economy of East Central Europe, 1815-1989, London and New York, 2006.

Wagener, Hans Jurgen (ed.), Economic Thought in Communist and Post-Communist Europe, London, 1998. 

Syllabus

Last update: Mgr. Karel Svoboda, Ph.D. (06.10.2023)

1. 	Topic	Presentation
   06.10.2023	Introduction to the course, Basic outline
   20.10.2023	War legacies. Is war an economic disaster or it is some opportunity? Why did the countries in the East end in the communist bloc and the Western countries did not? Why the countries grow so quickly? Was planning unique only for Central and Eastern Europe?	1. War legacies. 2.communist propaganda vs. reality	Holly Case, Reconstruction in East-Central Europe: Clearing the Rubble of Cold War Politics, Past and Present, 2011, supplement.
   03.11.2023	The autarkic model of an economy:  What was the logic in it? Why the Soviet Union pushed for higher industrialization in the Eastern countries. Were the regimes imposed by Soviets? Was there any economic rationale in the autarky? Did the external environment play some role in centrally planned economies?	1. political trials 2. First protests (Berlin or Pilsen...)	1. Ludwig von Mises, Economic calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth, http://mises.org/pdf/econcalc.pdf
   10.11.2023	Real existing socialism "goulash" socialism as a system	1. Reforms in the socialist economies - squaring a circle? (choose one) 2. socialist consumerism (consumer goods)	1. Korbonski - The Politics of Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe: The Last Thirty Years. Soviet Studies, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Jan., 1989), pp. 1-19
   24.11.2023	Cooperation inside the Bloc: CMEA as a framework for cooperation or an arena of clashes? Did the Soviet Union subsidize Central Europeans? Why Soviets did that then?	1. CMEA as an organization 2. Contacts with the West	1. Michael Marresse, CMEA: Effective but cumbersome political economy
   01.12.2023	The crisis of the system and the fall of communism in Europe. Final stage of the system. What happened to the planned economies of Eastern Europe? Did perestroika cause the fall? How the countries pursued their own perestroikas,	1. Perestroika in the CEE countries 2. collapse of the socialist enterprises	1. Laszlo Csaba, CMEA and the challenge of the 1980s
   08.12.2023	Transformations in CEE: Complete changes of the functioning of the political-economic systems. Why do some countries adopt hasty transformations while others follow a gradual path? Was the transformational recession really so deep?	1. ideological debate on transformation 2. Communist parties during transformations	1. Kornai, The Great transformation of central Europe, Success, and disappointment, Economics of Transition, Volume 14, 2006, 207-244
   15.12.2023	Privatizations and the problem of the growth of negative tendencies (crime etc.), inequality	1. voucher Privatiuzation 2. Oligarchy	1. Anders Aslund. Building Capitalism (chapter on privatization)
   22.12.2023	The Financial Crisis and Central Europe	Financial crisis in central Europe (eurosceptics and eurosupporters)
   05.01.2024	Illiberal capitalism? Recent turn from liberal approaches in Central Europe	Populism in CEE 2. V4 group

Entry requirements

Last update: Mgr. Jiřina Tomečková (26.09.2023)

There are no entrance prerequisites except for sufficient command of English, as we will read and discuss papers in English. Furthermore, oral presentations are also made in English. Computer literacy at the basic user level (using Microsoft office, Zoom) is sufficient. 

Economic training (or training in political economy) is a plus but not necessary. Nevertheless, the course should analyze such topics as daily life, culture, habits, and mentalities, so anybody interested is invited.