National Trajectories of Post-socialist Transformation: Is There a Convergence Towards Western Capitalisms?

Abstract

The beginning of the 1990s has been characterized by the predominance of an optimistic and naive rhetoric about convergence in the two halves of Europe. While in the West the prospect of a monetary union announced by the Maastricht treaty implied macro-economic convergence strictly defined through a number of tight criteria, the whole continent celebrated the reunification of East and West that followed the collapse of communist regimes. A shared objective of “transition to market economy” implied a quick convergence towards the institutional and systemic pattern deemed “normal” and to economic prosperity supposed to follow. Eight years later more sober analyses can be heard. Two unexpected developements have changed the scene: the problems of monetary unification in the West, partially linked to the specific way Germany was reunited, and the post-socialist depression in the East. Macro-economic convergence in the European Union and institutional convergence of formerly rival systems now both appear more difficult than in early expectations. Should the twists and turns of history, or the very concept of convergence be found guilty?