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Wither Diversity of Post-Socialist Welfare Capitalist Cultures? Crisis and Change in Estonia and Slovenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2015

Nicole Lindstrom
Nicole Lindstrom*
Affiliation:
University of York [nicole.lindstrom@york.ac.uk].
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Abstract

The paper considers the impact of the current economic crisis on post-socialist welfare capitalist states through an examination of two most different cases: neo-liberal Estonia and neo-corporatist Slovenia. The crisis prompted the most sustained political contestation with respect to each model in two decades. Considering national public sphere discussions within a broader European context, the paper shows how transnational advocates of austerity reinforced Estonia’s neoliberal model but emboldened critics of the Slovenian model to roll back the state. While public sphere debates within small, peripheral states must be understood within transnational contexts, in both cases we can observe more continuity than change in the collective ideas underlying each model.

Résumé

Cet article étudie l’impact de la crise économique actuelle sur les Etats-providence post-socialistes à travers deux cas : l’Estonie néo-libérale et la Slovénie néo-corporatiste. La crise a entraîné au cours des deux dernières décennies une contestation politique intense de ces deux modèles. À partir de l’observation des débats nationaux dans la sphère publique considérés dans un contexte européen plus large, l’article montre de quelle manière les partisans internationaux de l’austérité ont renforcé le modèle néolibéral Estonien tout en stimulant la critique du modèle slovénien afin de faire reculer l’Etat. Si les débats dans la sphère publique propres aux petits Etats périphériques doivent être replacés dans un contexte transnational, on observe dans les deux cas davantage de continuité que de changement dans les idées collectives sous-jacentes à chaque modèle.

Zusammenfassung

Diese Untersuchung beschäftigt sich mit den Auswirkungen der gegenwärtigen Finanzkrise auf ehemalige sozialistische Staaten, die heute zu europäischen Wohlfahrtsstaaten zählen: das neoliberale Estland und das neo-korporatistische Slowenien. Die Krise hat im Laufe der letzten zwanzig Jahre zu einer heftigen politischen Kritik beider Modelle geführt. Gestützt auf die Beobachtung der öffentlichen, nationalen Debatten, unter Einbindung eines erweiterten europäischen Kontextes, beschreibt der Aufsatz, wie internationale Verteidiger der Sparpolitik das estländische, neoliberale Modell bekräftigt und gleichzeitig die Kritik am slowenischen Modell, mit Ziel des Staatsabbaus, hervorgerufen haben. Selbst wenn die öffentliche Debatte kleiner, peripherer Staaten in einen überstaatlichen Kontext eingebettet werden muss, kann man in beiden Fällen mehr Kontinuität als Wandel in den kollektiven Ideen eines jeden Modells beobachten.

Keywords

Comparative post-socialist capitalismsEurozone crisisPolitical protestEconomic cultureEstoniaSloveniaCapitalisme post-socialisteCrise de l'EurozoneProtestation politiqueCulture économiqueEstonieSlovéniePostsozialistischer KapitalismusEurokrisePolitisher ProtestWirtschaftskulturEstlandSlowenien
Type
Economic Culture in the Public Sphere
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 56 , Issue 1: Economic Culture in the Public Sphere , April 2015 , pp. 119 - 139
Copyright
Copyright © A.E.S. 2015 

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