State Socialism in Eastern Europe

This volume brings together a diverse set of scholars to address the long theoretical debate on the interpretation of “actually existing” socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. While the major paradigms—totalitarianism, neo-totalitarianism, revisionism, post-revisionism, modernization, and the world-system analysis—are well known in the Western (English-language) literature, the concept of state socialism, which has strong theoretical roots in Hungary (going back to the works of György Lukács and István Mészáros) received less international attention. This book contributes to a productive discussion about viable alternatives to capitalism by introducing and theoretically elaborating on the concept of state socialism, highlighting the historical significance of Hungary’s experiment with the “new economic mechanism” of 1968, providing a common ground for “old” and “new” generation of anti-systemic thinkers in order to go beyond Cold War simplifications and ideological divides, and opening a discussion about anti-capitalist alternatives, which are relevant today for the global left.