Is it possible to install social capitalism in post socialist transition?

• Main Author: Lošonc Alpar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociological Scientific Society of Serbia 2007-01-01
• Series: Sociologija
• Subjects: Karl Polanyi; transition; social capitalism; welfare state; socio-ecological embeddedness
• Online Access: http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0038-0318/2007/0038-03180702097L.pdf

Recently Claus Offe has raised the question concerning the fate of the European model of social capitalism. Can the model of social capitalism survive European integration amongst current tendencies? Offe assumes that this model has been challenged by the processes of globalisation and by the integration of postsocialist countries into the European Union. The working hypotheses of this article is that a relatively coherent answer to this question may be offered. The article is divided into three parts. The first part starts with Polanji’s socio-economic theory and emphasizes the importance of this approach for analyzing tendencies of capitalism in Western Europe and in post-socialist countries. The author argues that Polanyi’s theory enables us to explain the forms of embedded liberalism in Western Europe after 1945, as well as the orientation of non-embedded neoliberalism and the functioning of the workfare state after the crisis of the Keynesian welfare state. The central element of social capitalism, namely, the welfare-state, despite globalizing tendencies projected by neoliberalism, still has dimensions of continuity. In the second section it is argued that an asymmetrical structure has arisen between Western Europe and the non-Western part of Europe concerning the socialisation of capitalism. Neoliberalisation in accordance with the model of transferring ideal-type capitalism is much more strongly implemented in transition countries. In the third part the author pleads for a broadening of the meaning of welfare to take into account the ecological aspect of welfare in countries in transition. The author insists that embeddedness must also include socio-ecological aspects of transition processes in postsocialist countries. Moreover, this theoretical approach provides an opportunity to explain the failures in implementing neoliberalism in postsocialist countries. If we introduce socio-ecological aspects we are in a much better position to answer Offe’s question.