A Social History of Twentieth-Century Europe offers a systematic overview on major aspects of social life, including population, family and households, social inequalities and mobility, the welfare state, work, consumption and leisure, social cleavages in politics, urbanization as well as education, religion and culture. It also addresses major debates and diverging interpretations of historical and social research regarding the history of European societies in the past one hundred years. Organized in ten thematic chapters, this book takes an interdisciplinary approach, making use of the methods and results of not only history, but also sociology, demography, economics and political science. Bela Tomka presents both the diversity and the commonalities of European societies looking not just to Western European countries, but Eastern, Central and Southern European countries as well. A perfect introduction for all students of European history.

This monograph updates existing scholarship on the economic performance of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland since 1945, contrasting it to Western Europe. For this longitudinal comparative exercise, the author goes beyond the traditional growth paradigm and analyzes the historical patterns of consumption and leisure, as well as quality of life, broadly understood, aspects that Tomka argues can best be analyzed in relation to one other. By adopting this "triple approach", his analysis relies not only on economic history and economics, but also on the methods and results of sociology and demography. Tomka's three pillar description shows that the pre-WWI period was the time when East Central Europe was closest to Western Europe. The interwar period sustained this level. The book thus dispels the widespread myth of the communist era as one of catching up and convergence. Beyond providing useful quantitative information, the author provides insight on the scholarly debates ranging from the factors of growth to demographic developments to the complexities of consumption in communist regimes. The analysis finally demonstrates that the post-communist transition, despite its high social and economic costs, allowed for qualitative and quantitative convergence, stalled only by the financial crisis of 2008.

A Social History of Twentieth-Century Europe offers a systematic overview on major aspects of social life, including population, family and households, social inequalities and mobility, the welfare state, work, consumption and leisure, social cleavages in politics, urbanization as well as education, religion and culture. It also addresses major debates and diverging interpretations of historical and social research regarding the history of European societies in the past one hundred years. Organized in ten thematic chapters, this book takes an interdisciplinary approach, making use of the methods and results of not only history, but also sociology, demography, economics and political science. Bela Tomka presents both the diversity and the commonalities of European societies looking not just to Western European countries, but Eastern, Central and Southern European countries as well. A perfect introduction for all students of European history.

Bislang war Ungarn in der vergleichenden Wohlfahrtsstaatsforschung kaum beachtet worden. Das Buch des an der Universitat Szeged (Ungarn) lehrenden Autors beschreibt nun die Entwicklung des ungarischen Wohlfahrtsstaates im 20. Jahrhundert, einschliesslich der kommunistischen Ara, und analysiert insbesondere deren konvergierenden und divergierenden Grundzuge in einem westeuropaischen vergleichenden Kontext. Neben der Ausgabenentwicklung wird auch die Entwicklung von Institutionen und sozialen Rechten untersucht. Aus dem Inhalt: Kap. 1: Changes in welfare expenditures Kap. 2: Major structural characteristics of welfare Kap. 3: Development of social rights Kap. 4: Organization and control Kap. 5: Determinants of welfare development Bibliography Tables Appendix"