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Two UK-based geographers specializing in the economies of East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Union review the character and consequences of the global economic crisis in these countries, focusing on how forms of gee-economic and geopolitical integration undertaken during their post-socialist transitions have contributed to economic vulnerabilities exacerbated by the emerging crisis. Particular emphasis is placed on the consequences for East-Central Europe of adhering to a development model based on internationalization of the financial sector, cheap credit, and increasing reliance on exports to compensate for energy resource imports. The authors explore the likely distancing within the broader region of a group of new 'insiders' (Euro-zone countries as well as the new EU member states) from an uneven landscape of 'outsiders' (including Ukraine and other FSU states), as well as some of the recent tensions emerging between old and new EU member states. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F210, F360, G010, O180, P200. 8 figures, 9 tables, 111 references. Key words: global financial crisis, East-Central Europe, former Soviet Union, European Union, European Commission, European Economic Area, European Neighborhood Policy, European Central Bank, CIS, U.S. banks, EU banks, cure, currency devaluation. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 2010, 51, No. 1, pp. 1-34. DOI: 10.2747/1539-7216.51.1.1

The association between the workplace implications of automotive foreign direct investment in Hungary and the uneven development of capitalism in East-Central Europe was investigated. It was argued that foreign investments can be conceptualized as a site where the interaction between competing institutions operating at different spatial scales is translated and instantiated in the material and discursive practices which constitute work. Power in the workplace was exercised through context control embedded in the social practices in work., INTRODUCTION It has recently been argued by HEROD, 1995, 1997, pp. 20-1, and WILLS, 1996, p. 371, that (in)action by workers and their representative institutions at different spatial scales plays [...]

Focuses on factors which contributed to economic transformations in east and central Europe and the former Soviet Union, while highlighting the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the transformation process. Contributions which neo-liberal ideology has made to economic transformations in eastern Europe; Details on the privatization of state owned property and market liberalization; Details on the economic and political situation in Russia.