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The fall of the Soviet bloc brought a sense of optimism for the establishment of open and democratic civil societies; however, the transition has been inconsistent and varied across the region. Some countries have embraced Western democratic and capitalist principles while others have encountered significant political challenges and setbacks. For young people, these diverse paths of development have led to both political engagement and apathy. In this systematic literature review (SLR) we aim to depict the state of research on school-age youth activism (YA) in post-socialist countries. Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted our search using three databases: Web of Science, EBSCO, and ERIC. The screening process resulted in 121 eligible papers. Our comparative analysis of peer-reviewed journal publications about YA in EU and non-EU post-socialist countries underscores the complexity of youth activism in post-socialist countries, revealing distinct research focuses and methodological disparities between EU and non-EU contexts. Our review challenges the notion of a uniform post-socialist landscape. Findings indicate that publications on non-EU countries often emphasise political events and youth organisations, such as the Euromaidan in Ukraine or groups like Nashi. In contrast, studies from EU countries tend to cover a wider range of topics but focus more on youth civic engagement and its deficiencies. Essentially, research from non-EU contexts highlights politically active youth, whereas EU-focused studies explore the reasons for political apathy and potential solutions. Additionally, papers on EU countries generally exhibit higher methodological rigour compared to those on non-EU countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changing spatial patterns of migration are closely related to the transformation of economy and society. Most current studies focus either on international migration or on the migration of particular urban regions. Our study evaluates migration trends in the entire national regional system, and thus it contributes to its comprehensive understanding. The study aims to evaluate the relationship of internal migration from economically lagging eastern to more developed western regions of Slovakia on the one hand, and migration between categories of regions according to the hierarchical position of their urban core on the other hand. The study follows the differential urbanization concept and analyses detailed data on individual migrations in Slovakia in 1996–2020. It thus covers the period from the post-socialist transformation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show the increasing intensity of east-west and up the urban hierarchy migration. Due to the significant polarization of migration between the eastern and western regional subsystems, we examined separately in both subsystems the migration excluding flows between the subsystems. The results revealed a concentration of population into metropolitan regions in both subsystems, although the intensity of the processes was lower and the onset of trends delayed in the eastern subsystem. A significant feature of development in the post-socialist period was intensive exurbanation in both subsystems. The study thus points to the importance of subnational and regional approaches to migration research, and reveals trends that can contribute to the explanation of migration development even in countries where such detailed migration statistics are not available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the transformation of the region around the twin-town Bitterfeld-Wolfen in Eastern Germany from a highly polluted industrial hub into a lakeland idyll and destination for recreation and nature-based tourism. From the perspective of local residents of age, the significance of this transformation was fundamentally shaped by German reunification, in particular by the experience of stigmatisation related to high levels of pollution in Bitterfeld-Wolfen in the context of general bias that devalued East German subjectivities in the course of German reunification. As I detail through both historical and ethnographic research, I show how mine restoration and the clean-up of contaminated sites have subsequently acquired meaning beyond ecological recovery and the improvement of public health. Tied up with the uncertainties and ambivalences of the transformation of East Germany and its integration into a West German entity, I demonstrate how the (im)possibility of restoring a destroyed landscape became inseparable from the postulated need of fundamental recovery of an East German region and its inhabitants from, so-perceived, socialist ruination. Consequently, I argue, the clean-up of contaminated sites and the remediation of a large open-cast mine in (former) East Germany produced not only an idyllic post-mining landscape, but a post-socialist one. Furthermore, as an archive of local history, the restored landscape became a way for elderly people to re-appropriate their past through its transformation into a remarkable present. In tracing this contested history, this paper contributes to landscape-centred analyses of post-socialist transformations in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Planning Education & Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Gaining housing autonomy in ownership-oriented housing systems has been observed as increasingly difficult for contemporary youth, including university students. This article analyses how students make sense of their experiences in private rentals, which is assumed to shape their dispositions and capacities to act in the housing market in the future. We contribute to the conceptualisation of young people’s housing choices and aspirations by offering evidence from the understudied post-socialist context of Tallinn, Estonia. Inspired by Bourdieu’s theory of practice and combining in-depth interviews with a survey, we show how the student experience in a weakly regulated private rental market supports their selfperception as established ‘players’ in the market, while developing a distinct investmentminded disposition to housing. Furthermore, the high symbolic value of homeownership conveyed by families in a ‘super homeownership’ society has rather strengthened among students, despite restricted opportunities to market entry.

This study examines the change of urban identity from the socialist period to post-socialist Tirana, evaluating the role of landmarks. The continuously changing city image in the post-socialist period, associated with the construction of new high-rise buildings, is the commencement of this research. The aim is to measure to what extent the change of the landmarks in the post-socialist period impacts Tirana's identity. To achieve this goal, we interviewed Tirana citizens (N = 209) about the socialist/post-socialist period landmarks representing city identity. The methodology includes surveying, mapping, visualization, and clustering. Through a conceptual diagram, the study emphasizes the role of landmarks within the urban identity concept by utilizing their salience-providing features, which are visual, semantic, and locational. The results reveal that the socialist city identity is represented by landmarks that possess a strong image and semantic values. In contrast, post-socialist city identity is represented by new landmarks, which are reported as many and emphasize the rise of experience-oriented landmarks in an entertainment district. The study found a location shift in the landmarks representing Tirana's urban identity from the socialist to post-socialist city. However, in both periods, the majority are on the city's main Boulevard (city spine), which works as a mental skeleton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By critically reflecting on the concept of “post-socialist neoliberalism” proposed by this thematic issue, we argue against the widely assumed hegemony of neoliberalism, not just in the post-socialist context, but anywhere. We suggest taking features that do not fit in the narratives of neoliberalism seriously and highlighting more-than-neoliberal rationales, too. We present cases from the literature focusing on post-socialist and illiberal contexts, especially in Hungary. As the critical reading of the literature and the secondary and primary data about Hungary shows, narratives of capitalist class domination and accumulation can be less than adequate. The maintenance of clientelist or neopatrimonial relations dominated by political power with politically created rents is a separate issue. Therefore, instead of assuming “in the last instance” determination by neoliberalism, which is only camouflaged with theoretically irrelevant contextual issues, we argue for the examination of neopatrimonial relations besides neoliberalism to better understand the mechanisms behind urban development. In doing so, we can explain how power is maintained without actual development, how corruption as a mode of rule is politically accepted, and why political struggles need to consider other aspects besides fighting capitalist class domination.

In post‐socialist Budapest, gentrification has remained modest for decades after the regime change (1989) due to politically controlled economic relations besides marketisation. Political control was transformed but maintained after 2010 in the illiberal Orbán regime. Populist housing privatisation for tenants, insufficient regulation of rental housing, mortgage policy and urban rehabilitations with systemic corruption caused moderate level of housing market commodification. However, gentrification accelerated from 2014. Among other factors, the restriction of mortgage lending and the unplanned expansion of tourism increased the commodification of real estate market. Similar contextual issues were mentioned in the gentrification literature before; however, they remained external modifying effects of the assumed nomothetic political economic mechanisms behind rent gaps under neoliberal governance assumed everywhere. We suggest connecting institutional, social and political factors with dynamics of land rent through the concept of commodification and its effects on potential ground rent to include them within the mechanisms of gentrification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaining housing autonomy in ownership-oriented housing systems has been observed as increasingly difficult for contemporary youth, including university students. This article analyses how students make sense of their experiences in private rentals, which is assumed to shape their dispositions and capacities to act in the housing market in the future. We contribute to the conceptualisation of young people's housing choices and aspirations by offering evidence from the understudied post-socialist context of Tallinn, Estonia. Inspired by Bourdieu's theory of practice and combining in-depth interviews with a survey, we show how the student experience in a weakly regulated private rental market supports their self-perception as established 'players' in the market, while developing a distinct investment-minded disposition to housing. Furthermore, the high symbolic value of homeownership conveyed by families in a 'super-homeownership' society has rather strengthened among students, despite restricted opportunities to market entry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legacy of Yugoslav music re-emerged in Serbia and in the wider post-Yugoslav cultural space during the 2000s, as the historical distance and growing dissatisfaction with capitalism led artists to reach out to the Yugoslav socialist past. This has taken many directions, from the reigniting of fandom of ex-Yugoslav music stars and the creation of tribute bands, to the renewal of interest in songs from World War II and the composition of new music echoing Yugoslav memories and re-framing Yugoslav popular songs in the broader field of contemporary artistic practices. Most socio-musical formations and cultural scenes that have been fashioned after the break of Yugoslavia either rearticulated and incorporated particular sound legacies strongly associated with Yugoslav socialism or emulated its 'ethos' by contrasting the present with ideas and practices of Socialist Yugoslav society. The author will focus on female performers and authors, as well on the smaller socio-musical and artistic contexts related to the feminist movement. By acknowledging, comparing and interpreting the contributions of female and feminist artists / activists in Serbia who use music as a tools for social critique, the article offers an insight into a complex intersection between gender, ideology, and politics of remembrance 'after Yugoslavia'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gardening and food self-provisioning motivations are changing with the country's economic development. While food security is often the main driver for self-provisioning in low-income countries, more diverse motivations exist in high-income countries. This study investigates the motivations for self-provisioning in the Czech Republic and the role of the family composition on the rate of self-provisioning to explore its social benefits. A two-step analysis was employed using data collected from 1 214 respondents. First, an exploratory descriptive statistical analysis was conducted to gain insights into the motivation of different households participating in self-provisioning. Second, binary probit models were used to investigate the characteristics influencing the main motives for self-provisioning. The results of the models revealed that the educational level, income per capita, family structure and area of residence influence the motives for self-provisioning.

Abstract This article focuses on the problem of housing wealth inequality as an increasingly important dimension of social inequality in post-socialist super-homeownership countries and uses the Czech Republic as a case study. The article shows that housing wealth inequality is higher than income inequality and that it tends to grow in time, especially due to the spatially uneven appreciation of house prices. However, intergenerational housing-related within-family resource transfers have a mitigating effect on growing wealth inequality. Using a microsimulation model, the article shows that any discontinuation of transfers could significantly increase housing wealth inequality in the future, especially among young families. Unlike in some Western societies, intergenerational resource transfers thus work to equalise rather than catalyse housing wealth inequality. These findings have significant implications for measuring social inequalities, demographic trends, and the stability of housing systems in post-socialist countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on the period between 1994 and 2006, this study of the Soros Foundation and its spin-offs employs a mixed-method approach to explore the structure of the visual arts scene in Croatia and the role of Soros Foundation organisations within it. Based on a quantitative analysis of network visualisations and a qualitative structural analysis of narrative interviews, which are theoretically framed around the notions of network and complexity, the article moves the research agenda away from assumptions about what Soros Foundation organisations were supposed to be, to a more embedded understanding of what they actually were in a specific space-time. The analysis foregrounds varying strategies and trajectories of Soros Foundation's Croatia-based organisations. It demonstrates that they served mostly to maintain continuity with the socialist period during the 1990s, while real structural change, at least partially due to the Foundation's influence, happened only after 1999 with the emergence of the independent cultural scene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gardening and food self-provisioning motivations are changing with the country’s economic development. While food security is often the main driver for self-provisioning in low-income countries, more diverse motivations exist in high-income countries. This study investigates the motivations for self-provisioning in the Czech Republic and the role of the family composition on the rate of self-provisioning to explore its social benefits. A two-step analysis was employed using data collected from 1 214 respondents. First, an exploratory descriptive statistical analysis was conducted to gain insights into the motivation of different households participating in self-provisioning. Second, binary probit models were used to investigate the characteristics influencing the main motives for self-provisioning. The results of the models revealed that the educational level, income per capita, family structure and area of residence influence the motives for self-provisioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many demographic challenges and new trends have been observed across formerly state socialist countries after embarking on their political and economic transition. Including countries that range from Eastern Europe to Central Asia, this study explores whether some family-related events were more sensitive to the transformation that occurred in the 1990s than others, and whether the disruption was immediate or delayed across this wide range of contexts. Based on year-specific hazard ratios over four decades, results point to changes in fertility patterns being clearly linked to the transition. Second birth rates reacted almost immediately to societal disruption, whereas a more delayed change occurred for first births. Although abrupt changes in marriage and divorce rates also occurred, these changes often began before the transition and therefore may be part of longer-term developments. That second births were the most sensitive family event to the immediate change in conditions may be due to economic costs, but also unique characteristics related both to its lack of conferring a new social role on the individual, such as in the case of marriage and parenthood, and the narrower window of time in which this event usually occurs. The delayed changes in first births may instead reflect changes in norms and culture that influenced younger individuals when they reached childbearing ages. * This article belongs to a special issue on “Demographic Developments in Eastern and Western Europe Before and After the Transformation of Socialist Countries”.

This paper examines public opinion in Poland towards welfare policies and structures. We start by outlining the main research into welfare state models, in particular drawing on the welfare state typologies of Esping-Andersen. We then outline the existing contradictory research that exists on whether a distinct welfare state model is identifiable in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), including Poland. We use this as a context to analyse the opinions of Poles towards the welfare state. Our research uses original quantitative data garnered from a survey carried out on a representative sample in Poland. There is particular strong support for aspects of the social democratic welfare state model within Polish society. Furthermore, large sections of Polish society remain supportive of some of the welfare structures that were existent during Communism. Concurrently, there is significant support for a liberal welfare state model within the most privileged sections of society. The analysis therefore finds that the opinions of Polish society are mixed, which to some degree reflects the hybrid nature of its welfare state.

The Venetian Macao Resort is one of the world's largest buildings and Macao's most popular attraction, visited by millions of tourists each year from mainland China. This article explores the Venetian's function in China's National New-Type Urbanization Plan, a macro-economic initiative implemented in 2014 by China's central government. The project aims to urbanize hundreds of millions of rural Chinese citizens in hopes that these new urbanites will create a domestic consumption economy powerful enough to sustain economic growth. One key to enhancing urban consumption levels is fostering what Louis Wirth called 'urbanism as a way of life' – the density, heterogeneity, and anonymity of urban experience that stimulates market activity. Drawing on indigenous Chinese theories of education, and China's pedagogical use of normative models to guide ethical behavior, this article analyzes the Venetian as an encapsulated model city in this national urbanization plan. It explores how tourists in the Venetian experience a normative mode of 'urbanism as a way of life' that comports post-socialist consumers, and contributes to the country's economic development. As a privatized urban enclosure, the Venetian constitutes an architectonic resolution to the inherent contradiction of China's macro-economic planning, and the risks that urbanization poses to the central government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ruch Prawniczy, Ekonomiczny i Socjologiczny (0035-9629) is the property of Adam Mickiewicz University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper suggests that a combination of varieties of capitalism (VoC) and entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) approaches is not only capable of revealing that there is a broader variety of entrepreneurship than currently offered in the literature but also that certain types of entrepreneurship are transnationally interdependent. Historically embedding the case of illiberal Hungary, the paper discusses several models of entrepreneurship via the scholarship of Iván Szelényi, a neoclassical comparative sociologist of social, political and economic transformations in the former Soviet bloc. Szelényi's contributions span from studying Socialist entrepreneurship of the 1970s and 1980s to investigating transformations in two post-Socialist contexts, first, the post-1990 area when neoliberal transnational entrepreneurship coexisted with domestic neo-patrimonial entrepreneurship, and second, the post-2010 epoch when illiberal transnational entrepreneurship is intertwined with domestic neo-prebendal entrepreneurship. The paper offers conclusions for entrepreneurship research in two respects: first, it underscores the relevance of the transnational dimension, second it puts emphasis on the importance of a more nuanced understanding of agency in the ream of political coordination exercised by political classes in structuring opportunities and constraints both for domestic as well as for transnational entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper it is claimed that the conception of art regimes by Jacques Rancière may be a productive tool for coming across various binary oppositions used while thinking about modern art, such as modernism/social realism, official/non-official, political/apolitical, and let us write more fluid histories of modern art in the post-socialist and post-soviet countries.

This study examines the impact of government spending on the finance-growth nexus in 27 post-communist economies from 1995 to 2017 using dynamic panel estimators. Many transitional economies have attempted to reduce the influence of government intervention during their early transitional period while reforming their respective financial sectors. The findings show that overall financial development is positive to growth, while government spending has a negative impact on growth. More importantly, the marginal effects of financial development are positive to growth at low levels of government spending. In contrast, at high levels of government spending, financial development has a negative relationship to growth. Focusing on different aspects of financial development, the findings show that financial access and efficiency are more effective at stimulating growth compared to financial depth. Post-communist economies should ensure that government spending should not crowd out the financial sector, and promote financial efficiency and accessibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focuses on the treatment of public open spaces (POS) in multi-family housing areas in post-socialist Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. The aim is to evaluate their quality and sustainability and to identify all important impact factors influencing their properties. A case study was conducted on a representative sample of four multi-family housing sites in Nis, Serbia. Determining the interconnection between urban planning parameters and the realized quality of POS is one of the primary objectives that could lead to forming recommendations for future multi-family housing development, including more usable and sustainable POS in the current social and economic context. The models for improvement of POS quality and sustainability are defined as a research result.

The majority of social science studies on self-driving vehicles has focused on accepting technology using a methodology that investigates direct relationships only. However, there is an increasing demand for an in-depth social analysis of self-driving vehicle acceptance, exploring more complex relationships. Here, this challenge is responded to by the statistical modelling of the acceptance of self-driving technology, allowing for an exploration of the direct and indirect relationships among the relevant variables. Most previous studies have also been conducted in developed countries, and limited information is available on the acceptance of self-driving technology in less- developed countries. The present study constructs an explanatory statistical model of the Hungarian population's concept of self-driving vehicles based on a representative sample of 1,001 participants. Furthermore, a graphical representation of the model is provided. The main results include the determination of the most influential factors on the acceptance of self-driving vehicles and the attribution of direct and indirect relationships among the variables, thus providing deeper knowledge than that previously obtained and complementing the currently available research results. Based on results, the expected advantages of self-driving technology have the greatest direct and total impact on the acceptance of this technology in Hungary. The enthusiasm for new technologies and the expected disadvantages of self-driving technology has a slightly weaker direct and second-largest total impact. Information needs on self-driving technology, awareness of driving support systems, and perceived usefulness of new technologies had a weak but significant direct impact. The results of study will provide essential information for the successful integration of self-driving technologies into the innovation systems of less-developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines hegemonic norms of political and moral economy in Ukraine today acting at the level of the workplace. My research is based on fieldwork I conducted in a large industrial city in the east of Ukraine from January to June 2019. Using the general Gramsci inspired theoretical framework and the insights of Hillel Ticktin, Simon Clarke and Michael Burawoy regarding Soviet and post-Soviet factory regimes, I analyse differences between the life-worlds of workers, relating them to the structurally different context in which they find themselves. All enterprises feature path-dependent informal bargaining and under investment as cornerstones of their factory regimes. However, they differ in the ways in which these traits combine in practice. These configurations, in turn, elicit different strategies and attitudes from the workers, each of them more typical at one enterprise than at others: an archaic manufactory attitude at a new window factory, exit in mines torn between owners, voice at the foreign-owned metalworking factory, and loyalty at a ‘native’ oligarchic holding. The general trend is not towards eliminating informality as a ‘post-Soviet residue’ but rather towards renegotiating it with different outcomes.

The article examines symbolic and ritual practices in five cities of southern and eastern Ukraine – Dnipro, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, and Kharkiv – during the 1990s to 2010s. The author considers the ways in which urban symbolic and ritual practices (primarily expressed in such symbolic forms as municipal ceremonies and festivals) are connected with the cultural and symbolic space of cities. First and foremost, these practices represent a kind of “symbolic mediators” of urban cultural memory and participate in the preservation, broadcasting, and actualization of the cultural semantics of the city. During the 1990s to 2010s, urban symbolic and ritual practices in Ukraine were characterized by efforts to leave behind the most objectionable manifestations of the Soviet culture of festivity and create a fundamentally new festive canon. To an extent, these developments were part of the so-called “decolonization of historical memory,” initiated by the central government and urban communities. Undoubtedly, they were facilitated by the ongoing socio-political transformations, particularly those connected with the Orange Revolution (2004) and Euromaidan Revolution (2013–2014), the Russian aggression against Ukraine, etc. At the same time, the transformation of the Soviet complex of symbolic and ritual practices progressed only slowly; the change of political regime did not lead to a large-scale “ceremonial revolution.” Modern Ukrainian festive culture involves a combination, often quite eclectic, of at least several elements: a “new” style of festivity, generally based on borrowed “Western” cultural patterns; “traditional” forms, stressing national aspects and attempting to revive pre-Soviet cultural models; and “Soviet” forms, which preserve the Soviet festive canon, often adapted and rethought within the framework of the new urban tradition. Overall, the process of constructing a new model of urban festivity in Ukraine is far from complete; this emerging cultural complex remains fluid and capable of “turning” towards the festive traditions of different historical periods.

Despite the significant increase in protected territory globally, there is a common understanding that the designation of protected areas alone does not guarantee their effectiveness nor halt the loss of biodiversity. In addition to biodiversity conservation, protected areas are expected to perform a number of other functions, such as provide ecosystem services and improve local socio-economic conditions. Therefore, the need to strive towards mixed, decentralized conservation management and stakeholder involvement is increasingly emphasized. Although there is limited research, it has been noted that protected areas have not served wider objectives effectively enough. The current study provides insight concerning socio-economic effects of different governance and management practices of protected areas based on perceptions of residents and stakeholders of five national parks of Estonia. It was found that conservation status has an important impact on local socio-economic conditions largely depending on governance and management practices, resulting in both, positive and negative effects. It was concluded that the centralization of nature conservation and the abolition of protected area administrations have led to a gradual distancing of nature conservation from local conditions and the population, causing concern about the preservation of the living environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reindustrialization is gaining focus in developed countries and manufacturing is again becoming a priority in the economic policy documents of the European Union (EU). We investigate whether there is reindustrialization happening in the EU, and if so, whether the evolution of manufacturing is similar among the different member states. For this analysis, we selected two country groups, ten post-socialist member states (PS10) and the core fifteen members (EU15). We use a decomposition method to separate the effects of changing labor productivity in manufacturing, changing share of manufacturing in gross value added and changing aggregate labor productivity on the change in manufacturing’s share in employment between 2000 and 2017. We find deindustrialization in the EU15 group: a decrease in manufacturing employment share as well as manufacturing employment itself along with a stagnant share in total gross value added. Meanwhile the Post-socialist country group shows signs of reindustrialization: the share of manufacturing employment slightly increased along with an increasing employment, and a dynamically increasing gross value added share. We also find that after the global financial crisis the evolution of the manufacturing sector in the Post-socialist group is more similar to that in the EU15 group than it was before the crisis.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s gave rise to widespread experimentation with neoliberal policy across much of the former Soviet sphere of influence. Nowhere was this more evident than in Bulgaria which has been a hotbed of neoliberal reform since the late 1990s, including the introduction of a water concession in Sofia in 1999. This paper critically examines efforts to remunicipalise water in the city. We argue that there is widespread support for water remunicipalisation but it is highly fractured along ideological and institutional lines. Bringing water services back in house is a real possibility but a progressive outcome is far from assured, with farright nationalists keen to make water public for their own cronyist agenda and with neoliberal forces potentially demanding a commercialised public water utility. There is another more progressive possibility, but one that will require sensitive multi-stakeholder coalition-building (including with Romani communities) and longer-term cultural shifts in public service ethos. We conclude by arguing that progressive organisations in Sofia have no choice but to start mobilising now for the kind of public water operator they want to see when the private contract with Veolia ends in 2025.

Research on clusters, unlike cluster initiatives, has not been comprehensively addressed in European post-socialist countries. The aim of this paper is to explore and to analyse quantitatively the spatial organisation of economic activities in the wine industry in Slovakia, and to assess it in terms of the concept of an industrial cluster. The wine industry is considered as a production sector in which location is determined by geographical factors. The research is based on a case study of a wine region located north-east of Bratislava, Slovakia. The primary identification of the cluster potential is based on the assessment of geographic conditions and statistical analyses focused on the spatial concentration of the industry within the defined area. An extensive questionnaire survey provided data for assessing the spatial organisation of economic activities and their impact on regional competitive advantage. Despite the spatial distribution of economic activities and relations among business entities affected by socialist industrialisation and post-socialist transformation, the results show that the industrial cluster was formed in the wine industry and its performance converges with the wine clusters in traditional Western European wine regions.

In the post-socialist region, both disability NGOs and disability research have been hostages of the medical model. The last decades mark the end of this dependence, however, a question remains over whether disability activism and research have become allies, implementing human rights-based disability policy. The goal of this paper is to reveal the relationship between academic disability research and disability activism and their influence on disability policy in the post-socialist region. The objectives of the research are to analyze the peculiarities of academic disability discourse and disability activism, their intersection points as well as their actual impact on disability policy. As a reference point for this analysis, we will take the trends of disability discourse and the rise of disability activism in the Global North countries. Thus, this paper contributes to the „careful dialogue" (Rassel, Iarskaia-Smirnova, 2013) between the post-socialist and Western understandings of disability. Authors overview the emergence of civil society and disability activism in post-socialist countries, discuss the changing role of researchers in the disability field, present and compare findings from experts' research, and quantitative content analysis of disability-related academic texts.

The "return of the state" as an economic actor has left scholars at a lack of theoretical tools to capture the characteristics of state-dominated business systems. This is reflected in the fact that any type of state intervention in the economy is too easily qualified as a sign of "authoritarian capitalism," which has led scholars to lump together countries as diverse as China, Singapore, and Norway under that heading. Rather than considering any type of state intervention in the economy as authoritarian, we propose a more sophisticated conceptualization, which distinguishes two boundaries between the public and the private domains and conceives of the "return of the state" as the erosion of one or both of them. This conceptualization allows us to clearly distinguish a shift from an ideal-typical market-based "regulatory capitalism" to "state capitalism" or "authoritarian capitalism," respectively. We use interview data with business leaders in an extreme case of the return of the state to identify the nature of the mechanisms by which an authoritarian government erodes these private-public divides. We argue that a focus on these constitutive mechanisms of the erosion of private-public divides allows us to define "authoritarian capitalism" in a way that makes it a useful tool to understand contexts beyond the Chinese case in which it first emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines new-ruins in a post-industrial urban landscape on the example of Łódź, Poland. It analyses which ruins are depicted (industrial vs. domestic) and how they are framed (within the wider urban context or on their own) and interpreted (social and political critiques, local history, and aesthetics). It argues that contrary to the suggestions in the academic literature, these sites are not seen as symbols of failing capitalism but are sites and sources of meditative reflection, akin to the role played by medieval ruins during the nineteenth century. Furthermore, heritage is virtually absent from these discussions because modern ruins are not understood to be part of the industrial heritage by the actors in the post-industrial city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]