Abstract
This review essay discusses Bálint Magyar’s most recent book, Stubborn Structures: Conceptualizing Post-communist Regimes (Budapest: CEU Press 2019). Bálint Magyar first published in Hungarian in 2015 (published in English by CEU Press in 2016) a path-breaking book on The Post-Communist Mafia State: The Case of Hungary. This was the first major attempt to move beyond political controversies and offer a systematic critique of post-communist states. The book also went beyond the usual accusation of “corruption.” Magyar’s key point is that—at least in Hungary—a mafia style of “upper-world” was created, with a “godfather” at the top of it and an “adopted family” below it. This fascinating idea was followed by edited books that included contribution by other scholars. The latest such book is Magyar’s Stubborn Structures: Conceptualizing Post-communist Regimes (CEU Press 2019), which includes articles applying the “mafia state theory” to a great variety of post-communist countries.
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There is a rich overview of the literature in this volume by Magyar, pp. 97–176.
The term nomenklatura (originally a value-free Russian word, borrowed from the Latin, meaning a list of names) was widely used in the Soviet Union. In all former socialist countries (including China!), it meant a category of people who held various key administrative positions in the bureaucracy, running all spheres of society: government, industry, agriculture, academia, etc., whose positions were granted only with the approval of the communist party of the country. Virtually all members of the nomenklatura were members of the Communist Party. Nomenklatura is a similar concept to the western “Establishment” holding or controlling both private and public powers (e.g., media, finance, trade, industry, state, and institutions). In other words, nomenklatura is a broader concept than “elites.”
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Szelenyi, I. Paternal domination and the mafia state under post-communism. Theor Soc 48, 639–644 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-019-09356-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-019-09356-2