History of Socialist Economies

This article looks at the evolution of educational stocks during communism from a systemic and diachronic perspective. Using census data collected in 1956, 1966, 1977 and 1992, the assessment of quantitative gains focuses both on the national level, and various social groups, such as women and rural inhabitants. Educational expansion  is  then  discussed  by taking into account  contingencies  and  qualitative flaws within the  socialist system.  While  data  show an  increase  in  the  number  of  secondary  and  tertiary  education  graduates,  socio-economic backwardness of Romania played an important role to the relativity of these dynamics, along with the late  communist  policies.  For  most of  the educational  achievements  there  had been ideological  and political economy offsets determined by the dictatorial regime, and also counterbalances inherent to a traditionalist path dependency.

En esta obra analizaremos las posiciones teóricas y políticas de Otto Bauer
(intelectual austríaco, miembro del Partido Social Demócrata de Austria y de la escuela
llamada Austro-marxista) sobre la teoría de las crisis y la cuestión del imperialismo en el marco
la Segunda Internacional. En primer lugar analizaremos su formulación de la teoría marxista de las
crisis en forma de una teoría del ciclo industrial. En segundo lugar analizaremos su formulación de
una teoría del imperialismo durante su intervención en el debate sobre las nacionalidades en la
Social Democracia austríaca, así como su recepción de las obras canónicas de Hilferding y Luxemburg
sobre el tema. Finalmente, consideraremos su intervención política en torno al Estado austríaco, su
política exterior y los conflictos nacionales que se desarrollaron en su seno (y su impacto en su
partido). Todo el análisis será sustentado a través del examen de fuentes primarias. Nuestra
hipótesis es que existió una relación orgánica entre los tres aspectos analizados: una posición
donde las crisis eran un fenómeno únicamente cíclico favoreció una concepción del imperialismo como
una política particular que no era intrínsecamente necesaria para el desarrollo del capitalismo. En
el terreno político esto condujo a una postura que preconizaba el mantenimiento del statu quo de la
configuración estatal austríaca, que fue modificada sólo gradual y tardíamente debido al impacto de
los conflictos nacionales y la evolución del imperialismo austríaco y europeo en general. En la
conclusión juzgamos en
detalle esta idea recapitulando los distintos temas de nuestro trabajo.

A Kádár-korszak gyári munkásaival foglalkozó történeti munkák leginkább egyes üzemeken vagy egy-egy településen keresztül mutatták be és elemezték a dolgozók hétköznapjait (Horváth 2004, Bartha 2009, Horváth et al. 2003. Az alábbi írásomban ugyanezt az utat kívánom követni, csak a Csepel Autógyár munkásairól kívánok beszélni. Egyfelől azért, mert a szakirodalom alapján igazolva látom Kemény István nézetét (Kozák, Kemény 1970, Kemény, Kozák 1971, miszerint korántsem egységes, hanem gyárak szerint elkülönült és változó képet adó "munkásságokról" beszélhetünk a korszakban. Másfelől témám, az üzemi munkások fusizása, habár országos szinten megfigyelhető volt, de országrészenként eltérő lehetőségekkel valósult meg.

International Conference

Marx's Capital after 150 Years: Critique and Alternative to Capitalism

May 24-26, 2017, The Marx Collegium - York University, Toronto
Conference Program: http://www.marxcollegium.org

After the eruption of the international financial crisis in 2008, Marx's Capital received renewed academic and popular attention. Leading newspapers throughout the world discussed again the contemporary relevance of its pages. Faced with a deep new crisis of capitalism, many are now looking to an author who in the past was often wrongly associated with the "actually existing socialism", and who was too hastily dismissed after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

For many scholars today, Marx's analyses are arguably resonating even more strongly than they did in his own time. This international conference will bring together several world-renowned sociologists, political theorists, economists, and philosophers, from diverse fields and more than 10 countries with the aim of offering diverse scholarly perspectives and critical insights into the principal contradictions of contemporary capitalism and, in so doing, point to alternative economic and social models.

The conference is structured in nine plenary sessions and around several major themes. Among them there are: new interpretations of Capital in light of ecology, non-European societies and gender; the contemporary relevance of Capital; re-reading Capital as an incomplete project after the new critical edition of Marx's complete work (MEGA²); and the global dissemination and reception of Capital. The presenters will critically reconsider Marx's magnum opus as a work that continues to provide an effective framework to understand the nature of capitalism and the transformations of our times.

ADMISSION TO THIS CONFERENCE IS FREE

Conference Organizer: Marcello Musto, York University
Info: marcello.musto at gmail.com -- b.amini86 at gmail.com

IZVLEČEK Članek se posveča ekonomski plati mednarodnih odnosov, ki jih je SR Slovenija gojila po sprejetju nove jugoslovanske ustave leta 1974. Upoštevajoč dejstvo, da so bili formalni nosilec mednarodnega sodelovanja podjetja in samoupravna telesa, ugotavlja, na kakšen način je vladajoča politika defi nirala in dosegala uresničevanje ekonom-skega interesa republike v tujini. Pri tem je v središču pozornosti vprašanje, kako so značilnosti notranjepolitičnega razvoja in splošna situacija v svetu vplivale na orientacijo republiške gospodarske politike. Predstavljeni so različni načini spodbujanja mednarodnega sodelovanja (s sosednjimi državami, EGS in EFTO, ZDA in državami v razvoju). Na podlagi analize izbranih primerov avtor prikaže, kakšna je bila konkretna vloga republiškega vodstva in gospo-darskih predstavnikov v tujini pri vzpostavljanju novih oblik gospodarskega sodelovanja in na kakšen način so se pri tem prepletali politični in gospodarski interesi. Ključne besede: mednarodni odnosi, gospodarska diplomacija, paradiplomacija, SRS, zunanja trgovina DIPLOMAZIA ECONOMICA »SOCIALISTA«: L'ATTIVITÀ DELLA REPUBBLICA SOCIALISTA DI SLOVENIA NEI RAPPORTI ECONOMICI INTERNAZIONALI 1974–1980 SINTESI L'articolo è incentrato sugli aspetti economici internazionali intrattenuti dalla RS di Slovenia dopo l'approvazione della nuova costituzione jugoslava nel 1974. Partendo dal presupposto che i portatori formali delle relazioni inter-nazionali erano soprattutto aziende e organi di autogestione, lo studio analizza le modalità usate dal potere politico per defi nire e realizzare gli interessi economici del paese all'estero. Al centro dell'analisi si pone la questione di come le peculiarità di sviluppo della politica interna e la situazione mondiale in generale infl uirono sull'orientamento della politica economica slovena. Vengono presentati diversi modi per l'incremento della cooperazione internazio-nale (con i paesi limitrofi , CEE, EFTA, Stati uniti d'America e con i paesi in via di sviluppo). Sulla base di alcuni casi l'autore dimostra il ruolo concreto dell'elitè politica ed economica nell'instaurare nuovi rapporti di collaborazione economica ed in quale modo si intrecciarono interessi politici e quelli economici. Parole chiave: relazioni internazionali, diplomazia economica, paradiplomazia, Repubblica socialista di Slovenia, commercio estero

U radu se razmatraju refleksije promena idejno-političkih okvira, ekonomskih odnosa i spoljnopolitičke orijentacije na regulisanje bankarskog sistema u Jugoslaviji od uvođenja socijalizma do stvaranja socijalističke tržišne privrede. Potreba za iznalaženjem sistema za dva krupna zahteva koja je nametala vladajuća ideološka matrica – izgradnja socijalističkog bankarstva, baziranog na iskustvima SSSR i izgradnja samoupravnog bankarstva, bez ranijeg iskustva – vodila je čestim promenama. U ekonomsko-političkom opitu koji je obeležio istoriju Jugoslavije područje novca je bila oblast u kojoj se najviše eksperimentisalo. Tako je za samo dve decenije bankarstvo obeležilo više različitih, pa i suprotstavljenih pojava – razni vidovi podržavljenja, kruta planska privreda, centralizacija sa koncentracijom, delimična dekoncentracija, puna centralizacija, slabljenje planskog sistema, razni vidovi decentralizacije i ekonomske liberalizacije i kreiranje bankarstva socijalističkog tržišnog sistema.

This study looks at differences in product quality and innovation of dairy enterprises in Soviet Estonia and the Leningrad Oblast from 1960-1985. It uses local enterprise reports along with information from central ministries and articles from Soviet periodicals. This study seeks to understand the role quality and innovation had in Soviet production and its impact on Soviet consumer goods.

This article explores the relationship between Chinese officials and Western European industrialists, revealing that in the second half of the 1950s, there already was a specific Western European interest to cater to China's high market potential, and that this was met with favour on the Chinese side. In order to become a strong and independent country, PRC was especially interested to evaluate the most variegated range of offers in the chemical and energy sectors. By looking at the early achievements of the Italian National Hydrocarbon Holding (Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, ENI), this article will show how ENI's offer in terms of technology and engineering met the favour of Chinese counterparts in the beginning of the 1960s, just when the local petroleum industry was moving towards self-reliance, which China ultimately achieved, albeit for a short time. Sources show that, despite confronting economic and political constraints, PRC decision makers were perfectly aware of prices, commercial strategies, as well as of state-of-the-art technology of the time. Furthermore, China's commercial cooperation with Western European companies in the 1950s-1960s meant that Chinese leaders had, early on, an opportunity to evaluate market alternatives to the tightly constraining alliance with the Socialist bloc.