|
Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social institutions
|
Buy Now
Elites in Transition - Elite Research in Central and Eastern Europe (Paperback, 1997 ed.)
Loot Price: R1,579
Discovery Miles 15 790
|
|
|
Elites in Transition - Elite Research in Central and Eastern Europe (Paperback, 1997 ed.)
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
|
"Who rules in Eastern Europe?" became a fundamental question for
western researchers and other observers after communist regimes
were established in the region, and it gained further importance as
state socialism expanded into Central Europe after the Second World
War. A political order which, according to Leninist theory of the
state and to subsequent Stalinist political practice, was primarily
a highly centralised and repressive power organisation, directed,
as if it were natural, researchers attention towards the highest
echelon of office holders in party and state. Extreme
centralisation of power in these regimes was consequently linked to
an elitist approach to analysing them from a distant viewpoint. It
is one of the many paradoxes of state socialism, that a social and
political order which presumptuously claimed to be the final
destination of historical development and to be based on
deterministic laws of social evolution, which claimed an
egalitarian nature and denied the significance of the individual,
was per ceived through the idiosyncrasies, rivalries and personal
traits of its rulers. The largest part of these societies remained
in grey obscurity, onlyoccasion ally revealing bits of valid
information about a social life distant from the centres of power.
It is debatable whether this top-headedness of western re search
into communist societies created a completely distorted picture of
re ality, however, it certainly contributed to an overestimation of
the stability of these regimes, an underestimation of their factual
diversity and a misjudge ment of the extent of conflicts and
cleavages dividing them.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
You might also like..
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(3)
(1)
