Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-n9wrp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T05:13:37.795Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Disembedded Politics: Neoliberal Reform and Labour Market Institutions in Central and Eastern Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2018

Besnik Pula Open the ORCID record for Besnik Pula [Opens in a new window]
Besnik Pula*
Affiliation:
Besnik Pula, Department of Political Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, US
*
*Corresponding author. Email: bpula@vt.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Defying predictions of radical liberalization, labour market institutions in post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe are characterized by relatively protective employment legislation, sometimes combined with collective bargaining rights. However, not all protective employment regimes survived political attack by neoliberal reformers. Existing theories in comparative political economy suggest that employment regimes reflect the relative political power of producer groups. Others have suggested that in Central and Eastern Europe the content of labour market reform was determined by the coercive influence of transnational actors. Through a comparative analysis of labour market reform in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia, this article finds that trade unions played a key role in early institutional settlements over labour markets. However, in Romania and Slovakia, these institutional settlements were subsequently undermined by attacks by ideologically motivated domestic elites in episodes of disembedded politics. The article develops the concept of disembedded politics and demonstrates its importance in post-socialist institutional change.

Keywords

political economypost-communist politicscomparative politicslabour markets
Type
Articles
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 55 , Issue 4 , October 2020 , pp. 557 - 577
Copyright
Copyright © The Author 2018. Published by Government and Opposition Limited and Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbott, A (1990) Conceptions of Time and Events in Social Science Methods: Causal and Narrative Approaches. Historical Methods 23, 140–150.10.1080/01615440.1990.10594204CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amable, B and Palombarini, S (2009) A Neorealist Approach to Institutional Change and the Diversity of Capitalism. Socio-Economic Review 7, 123–143.10.1093/ser/mwn018CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Appel, H (2004) A New Capitalist Order: Privatization and Ideology in Russia and Eastern Europe. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.10.2307/j.ctt6wrdwwCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Appel, H and Orenstein, M (2018) From Triumph to Crisis: Neoliberal Economic Reform in Postcommunist Countries. New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108381413CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ban, C (2016) Ruling Ideas: How Global Neoliberalism Goes Local. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190600389.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barr, N (2005) Labor Markets and Social Policy in Central and Eastern Europe: The Accession and Beyond. Washington, DC: World Bank.10.1596/0-8213-6119-8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bohle, D and Greskovits, B (2012) Capitalist Diversity on Europe’s Periphery. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.10.7591/9780801465666CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bosch, G and Charest, J (2008) Vocational Training and the Labor Market in Liberal and Coordinated Economies. Industrial Relations Journal 39, 428–447.10.1111/j.1468-2338.2008.00497.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyer, R (2005) How and Why Capitalisms Differ. MPIfG Discussion Paper 05/4. Cologne: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.Google Scholar
Bruszt, L and Greskovits, B (2009) Transnationalization, Social Integration, and Capitalist Diversity in the East and in the South. Studies in Comparative International Development 44, 411–434.10.1007/s12116-009-9045-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Busemeyer, MR and Trampusch, C (2012) The Comparative Political Economy of Collective Skill Formation. In Busemeyer MR and Trampusch C (eds), The Political Economy of Collective Skill Formation. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 3–40.Google Scholar
Bush, LS (2004) Trade Unions and Labor Relations. In Carey HF (ed.), Romania Since 1989: Politics, Economics, and Society. Boulder, CO: Lexington Books, pp. 419–438.Google Scholar
Campbell, JL (2004) Institutional Change and Globalization. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Capoccia, G and Kelemen, RD (2007) The Study of Critical Junctures: Theory, Narrative, and Counterfactuals in Historical Institutionalism. World Politics 59, 341–369.10.1017/S0043887100020852CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chivu, L, Ciutacu, C, Dimitriu, R and Ticlea, T (2012) The Impact of Legislative Reforms on Industrial Relations in Romania. Geneva: International Labor Organization.Google Scholar
Coates, D (2015) Varieties of Capitalism and ‘the Great Moderation’. In Ebenau M, Bruff I and May C (eds), New Directions in Comparative Capitalisms Research: Critical and Global Perspectives. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 11–27.Google Scholar
Collier, RB and Collier, D (1991) Shaping the Political Arena: Critical Junctures, the Labor Movement, and Regime Dynamics in Latin America. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Crouch, C (2005) Models of Capitalism. New Political Economy 10, 439–456.10.1080/13563460500344336CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowley, S and Stanojević, M (2011) Varieties of Capitalism, Power Resources, and Historical Legacies: Explaining the Slovenian Exception. Politics and Society 39, 268–295.10.1177/0032329211405440CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drahokoupil, J (2009) Globalization and the State in Central and Eastern Europe: The Politics of Foreign Direct Investment. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
EBRD (2000) Transition Report 2000: Employment, Skills, and Transition. London: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.Google Scholar
Emmenegger, P (2014) The Power to Dismiss: Trade Unions and the Regulation of Job Security in Western Europe. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G (1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Estevez-Abe, M, Iversen, T and Soskice, DW (2001) Social Protection and the Formation of Skills: A Reinterpretation of the Welfare State. In Hall PA and Soskice DW (eds), Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 145–183.10.1093/0199247757.003.0004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farkas, B (2011) The Central and Eastern European Model of Capitalism. Post-Communist Economies 23, 15–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FIC (2010) Daily Newsletter. Bucharest: Foreign Investors Council.Google Scholar
FIC (2011) Daily Newsletter. Bucharest: Foreign Investors Council.Google Scholar
Fisher, S, Gould, J and Haighton, T (2007) Slovakia’s Neoliberal Turn. Europe-Asia Studies 59, 977–998.10.1080/09668130701489170CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greskovits, B (2014) Legacies of Industrialization and Paths of Transnational Integration after Socialism. In Beissinger MR and Kotkin S (eds), Historical Legacies of Communism in Russia and Eastern Europe. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 68–89.10.1017/CBO9781107286191.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grzymala-Busse, A and Innes, A (2003) Great Expectations: The EU and Domestic Political Competition in East Central Europe. East European Politics and Society 17, 64–73.10.1177/0888325402239684CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haggard, S and Kaufman, RR (2008) Development, Democracy, and Welfare States: Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hall, P and Gingerich, DW (2004) Varieties of Capitalism and Institutional Complementarities in the Macroeconomy: An Empirical Analysis. MPIfG Discussion Paper 04/5. Cologne: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.Google Scholar
Hall, PA and Soskice, DW (2001) Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/0199247757.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huber, E and Stephens, J (2001) Development and Crisis of the Welfare State: Parties and Policies in Global Markets. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iankova, E (2002) Eastern European Capitalism in the Making. New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511510168CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IMF (2009) IMF Executive Board Approves €12.9 Billion Stand-By Arrangement for Romania. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.Google Scholar
IMF (2011) IMF Completes Sixth Review Under Stand-By Arrangement with Romania and Approves €904.8 Million Disbursement. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.Google Scholar
Inglot, T (2008) Welfare States in East Central Europe, 1919–2004. New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511510175CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iversen, T and Stephens, J (2008) Partisan Politics, the Welfare State, and Three Worlds of Human Capital Formation. Comparative Political Studies 41, 600–637.10.1177/0010414007313117CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jürgens, U and Krzywdzinski, M (2009) Work Models in the Central Eastern European Car Industry: Towards the High Road? Industrial Relations Journal 40, 471–490.10.1111/j.1468-2338.2009.00541.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katzenstein, PJ (1985) Small States in World Markets: Industrial Policy in Europe. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Kitschelt, H (1992) The Formation of Party Systems in East Central Europe. Politics and Society 20, 7–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitschelt, H (1995) Formation of Party Cleavages in Post-Communist Democracies: Theoretical Propositions. Party Politics 1, 447–472.10.1177/1354068895001004002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitschelt, H (2015) Analyzing the Dynamics of Post-Communist Party Systems. East European Politics and Societies 29, 81–91.10.1177/0888325414567327CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitschelt, H, Mansfeldová, Z, Markowski, R and Tóka, G (1999) Post-Communist Party Systems: Competition, Representation, and Inter-Party Cooperation. New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139175173CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kogan, I, Gebel, M and Noelke, C (2008) Europe Enlarged: A Handbook of Education, Labour, and Welfare Regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. Bristol: Policy Press.10.1332/policypress/9781847420640.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kogan, I, Noelke, C and Gebel, M (2011) Making the Transition: Education and Labor Market Entry in Central and Eastern Europe. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Kolberg, JE and Esping-Andersen, G (1992) Welfare States and Employment Regimes. In Kolberg JE (ed.), Study of Welfare State Regimes. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, pp. 3–36.Google Scholar
Korpi, W (1983) The Democratic Class Struggle. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Korpi, W (2006) Power Resources and Employer-Centered Approaches in Explanations of Welfare States and Varieties of Capitalism: Protagonists, Consenters, and Antagonists. World Politics 58, 167–206.10.1353/wp.2006.0026CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lavigne, M (1999) The Economics of Transition: From Socialist Economy to Market Economy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1007/978-1-349-27313-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mair, P (1996) What is Different About Post-Communist Party Systems? Glasgow: University of Strathclyde Press.Google Scholar
Malová, D and Marek, R (2005) Organized Interests. In Mesežnikov G and Kollár M (eds), Slovakia 2004: A Global Report on the State of Society. Bratislava: Institute for Public Affairs, pp. 231–250.Google Scholar
Mares, I (2001) Firms and the Welfare State: When, Why, and How Does Social Policy Matter to Employers? In Hall PA and Soskice DW (eds), Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 184–212.10.1093/0199247757.003.0005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mathernová, K and Renčko, J (2006) ‘Reformology’: The Case of Slovakia. Orbis 50, 629–640.10.1016/j.orbis.2006.07.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Micevska, M (2004) Unemployment and Labour Market Rigidities in Southeast Europe. The wiiw Balkan Observatory Working Papers 49. Vienna: wiiw Balkan Observatory.Google Scholar
Mihai, A (2011) Aţi cerut un nou Cod al muncii. Îl aveţi. Acum daţi drumul la angajări! Ziarul Financiar. Bucharest: Ziarul Financiar.Google Scholar
Myant, M (2003) The Rise and Fall of Czech Capitalism. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Noelke, C and Müller, W (2011) Social Transformation and Education Systems in Central and Eastern Europe. In Kogan I, Noelke C and Gebel M (eds), Making the Transition: Education and Labor Market Entry in Central and Eastern Europe. Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp. 1–28.Google Scholar
Nölke, A and Vliegenthart, A (2009) Enlarging the Varieties of Capitalism: The Emergence of Dependent Market Economies in East Central Europe. World Politics 61, 670–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OECD (2014) OECD Economic Surveys 2014: Slovak Republic. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.Google Scholar
Orenstein, M (2001) Out of the Red: Building Capitalism and Democracy in Postcommunist Europe. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.10.3998/mpub.11540CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ost, D (2000) Illusory Corporatism in Eastern Europe: Neoliberal Tripartism and Postcommunist Class Identities. Politics and Society 28, 503–530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ost, D (2005) The Defeat of Solidarity: Anger and Politics in Postcommunist Europe. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Polanyi, K (2001[1944]) The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of our Time. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Pop, L (2006) Democratizing Capitalism? The Political Economy of Post-Communist Transformations in Romania, 1989–2001. New York: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Pula, B (2018) Globalization Under and After Socialism: The Evolution of Transnational Capital in Central and Eastern Europe. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Ragin, CC (2008) Redesigning Socal Inquiry: Fuzzy Sets and Beyond. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rovny, J (2014) Communism, Federalism and Ethnic Minorities: Explaining Party Competition Patterns in Eastern Europe. World Politics 66, 669–708.10.1017/S0043887114000227CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rueschemeyer, D, Stephens, EH and Stephens, J (1992) Capitalist Development and Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sachs, JD (1993) Poland’s Jump to the Market Economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.10.7551/mitpress/5430.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, WR (2008) Institutions and Organizations: Ideas and Interests. Los Angeles: Sage.Google Scholar
Sil, R (2017) The Battle Over Flexibilization in Post-Communist Transitions: Labor Politics in Poland and the Czech Republic, 1989–2010. Journal of Industrial Relations 59, 420–443.10.1177/0022185617705684CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soskice, DW (1999) Divergent Production Regimes: Coordinated and Uncoordinated Market Economies in the 1980s and 1990s. In Kitschelt H, Lange P, Marks G and Stephens JD (eds), Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 101–134.10.1017/CBO9781139175050.006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinmo, S, Thelen, K and Longstreth, F (1992) Structuring Politics: Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Analysis. New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511528125CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Streeck, W (1991) On the Institutional Conditions of Diversified Quality Production. In Matzner E and Streeck W (eds) Beyond Keynesianism: The Socio-Economics of Production and Full Employment. Brookfield, VT: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 21–61.Google Scholar
Streeck, W (2009) Re-Forming Capitalism: Institutional Change in the German Political Economy. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Swenson, PA (2002) Capitalists Against Markets: The Making of Labor Markets and Welfare States in the United States and Sweden. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/0195142977.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tavits, M (2008) On the Linkage between Electoral Volatility and Party System Instability in Central and Eastern Europe. European Journal of Political Research 47, 537–555.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thelen, K (2004) How Institutions Evolve: The Political Economy of Skills in Comparative-Historical Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thelen, K (2010) Beyond Comparative Statics: Historical Institutional Approaches to Stability and Change in the Political Economy of Labor. In Morgan G, Campbell JL, Crouch C, Pedersen OK and Whitley R (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Institutional Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 41–62.Google Scholar
Tonin, M (2009) Employment Protection Legislation in Central and East European Countries. SEER: Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe 12, 477–491.10.5771/1435-2869-2009-4-477CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UNESCO (2006) Participation in Formal Technical and Vocational Education and Training Programmes Worldwide: An Initial Statistical Study. Montreal: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.Google Scholar