Universität Wien

210075 VO BAK15: SpezialVO East European Studies (2023W)

Eastern Europe´s Great Transformations

3.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 21 - Politikwissenschaft
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Details

Language: English

Examination dates

Monday 29.01.2024 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal D Unicampus Hof 10 Hirnforschungzentrum Spitalgasse 4 Wednesday 06.03.2024 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 33 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7 Wednesday 10.04.2024 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 21 Hauptgebäude, Hochparterre, Stiege 8

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Monday 02.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
Monday 09.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
Monday 16.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
Monday 23.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
Monday 30.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
Monday 06.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
Monday 13.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
Monday 20.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
Monday 27.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
Monday 04.12. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
Monday 11.12. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
Monday 08.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
Monday 15.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
Monday 22.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

More than 30 years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, there is widespread disillusionment with the outcomes of the transformations in the East. Public distrust in democratic institutions and political leaders, perception of widespread corruption, limited economic and social convergence with the West, and recurrent East-West conflicts attest to this. Consequently, political liberalism and European integration are being contested; economic nationalism has re-emerged, and historical memories are being re-written to idealize Europe’s dark 1920s and 1930s. However, disillusionment has varied across countries and over time. The lecture course seeks to reevaluate the processes and problems of East European transformations. It will cover questions such as: What have been successes of the transformation, and which are the failures? How have the specific historical legacies impacted on the region’s transformations? What was the role of external actors in the transformations? Was the introduction of the liberal democratic institutional system without prior political democratic and constitutional culture premature? Why is the liberal order increasingly being challenged in the region? Why are the almost forgotten early debates on populism, third way, economic nationalism, dependency, peripheral development being re-opened within the region? By systematically exploring the role of legacies and international influences in the region, and by drawing comparative inferences, the lecture aims to contextualize the region’s developments in a broader European framework, thereby reasserting Eastern Europe’s experiences as part of the common European trajectory.

Assessment and permitted materials

Written final exam at the end of the semester.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Passing the final exam

Examination topics

The examination is based on the content of the lectures and the supporting literature (readings assigned for each session)

Reading list

Below are some of the examples of texts that will be used in class. The full reading list will be provided at the beginning of the semester.

Offe, Claus. 1991. “Capitalism by Democratic Design? Democratic Theory Facing the Triple Transition in East Central Europe.” Social Research 58 (2): 865–92.
Bunce, Valerie. 1999. Subversive Institutions: The Design and the Destruction of Socialism and the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapters 5 & 6, pp. 77-126
Grzymala-Busse, Anna and Pauline Jones Luong. 2002. “‪Reconceptualizing the State: Lessons from Post-Communism‬.” Political Theory 30 (4), 529-554
Bernhard, Michael. 2020. “What Do We Know about Civil Society and Regime Change Thirty Years after 1989?” East European Politics 36 (3): 341–362.
Bohle, Dorothee, and Béla Greskovits. 2012. Capitalist Diversity on Europe’s Periphery. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, chapter 2: Capitalist Diversity after Socialism, pp. 55-96
Schimmelfennig, Frank, and Ulrich Sedelmeier. 2020. “The Europeanization of Eastern Europe: The External Incentives Model Revisited.” Journal of European Public Policy 27 (6): 814–33.
Cianetti, Licia, James Dawson, and Seán Hanley. 2018. “Rethinking ‘Democratic Backsliding’ in Central and Eastern Europe–Looking beyond Hungary and Poland.” East European Politics 34 (3): 243-256
Scheiring, Gábor. 2021. “Dependent Development and Authoritarian State Capitalism: Democratic Backsliding and the Rise of the Accumulative State in Hungary.” Geoforum, no. 124, pp. 267-278.
Richter, Solveig, and Natasha Wunsch. 2020. “Money, Power, Glory: The Linkages between EU Conditionality and State Capture in the Western Balkans.” Journal of European Public Policy 27 (1): 41–62.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: We 24.01.2024 13:26