Repatriating Polanyi

Market Society in the Visegrád States

Description
Table of contents
Reviews

Karl Polanyi’s “substantivist” critique of market society has found new popularity in the era of neoliberal globalization. The author reclaims this polymath for contemporary anthropology, especially economic anthropology, in the context of Central Europe, where Polanyi (1886–1964) grew up. The Polanyian approach illuminates both the communist era, in particular the “market socialist” economy which evolved under János Kádár in Hungary, as well as the post-communist transformations of property relations, civil society and ethno-national identities throughout the region.

Hann’s analyses are based primarily on his own ethnographic investigations in Hungary and South-East Poland. They are pertinent to the rise of neo-nationalism in those countries, which is theorized as a malign countermovement to the domination of the market. At another level, Hann’s adaptation of Polanyi’s social philosophy points beyond current political turbulence to an original concept of “social Eurasia”.

List of Illustrations
Preface: Forwards (n)ever!
Note
Acknowledgements

Chapter 1
Introduction: Karl Polanyi and the Transformations of Socialism and Postsocialism
Chapter 2
Market Principle, Marketplace and the Transition in Eastern Europe
Chapter 3
From Production to Property: Land Tenure and Citizenship in
Rural Hungary
Chapter 4
A New Double Movement? Anthropological Perspectives on Property in the Age of Neoliberalism
Chapter 5
Awkward Classes in Rural Eurasia
Chapter 6
Civil Society at the Grassroots: A Reactionary View
Chapter 7
Socialism and King Stephen’s Right Hand
Chapter 8
Ethnicity in the New Civil Society: Lemko-Ukrainians in Poland
Chapter 9
Postsocialist Nationalism: Rediscovering the Past in Southeast Poland
Chapter 10
Polish Civil Society, the Greek Catholic Minority, and Fortress Europe
Chapter 11
The Visegrád Condition (Freedom and Slavery in the Neoliberal World)
Chapter 12
Conclusion: Building Social Eurasia

References
Index

Attila Melegh, Director of the Karl Polanyi Research Center for Global Social Studies at Corvinus University, Budapest

With rare eloquence and integrity, Chris Hann has formulated a coherent (non-Eurocentric, plebeian and Polanyian) intellectual and moral-political perspective from which to view the consolidation of the neoliberal era in Central and Eastern Europe. Karl Polanyi prophesied that the imposition of “free markets” would risk “opening the door to the reintroduction of a crazy nationalism" (in Universal Capitalism or Regional Planning, 1945). While confirming Polanyi’s classic argument of the “countermovement,” Hann urges avoidance of the all too easy political and moral contempt expressed by local and global elite groups for the masses that have been pushed into a new dystopia. For this, not only critical scholars but also the inhabitants of places like Tázlár and Kiskunhalas owe Chris Hann a lot.

Ethik und Gesellschaft

"Chris Hann legt mit Repatriating Polanyi eine grundlegende Text-sammlung vor, die vor allem dadurch besticht, dass sie gängige theoretische Vorgaben der mittlerweile recht umfangreichen Polanyi-Literatur als Rahmung eines empirischen Forschungsprogramms zu den sozialen und kulturellen Konsequenzen von Liberalisierung und Vermarktlichung in Osteuropa versteht. Insofern leistet Hann einen unverzichtbaren Beitrag zur Ausdehnung des analytischen Felds Po-lanyischer Ansätze in den Sozial- und Kulturwissenschaften."

Ivan Szelenyi (William Graham Sumner Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Political Science, Yale University)

'Repatriating Polanyi' is a fascinating book that shows the relevance of Karl Polanyi (born and raised in the Habsburg Empire) to the study of socialist and postsocialist Eastern Europe. Polanyi – a major inspiration worldwide for all those who are critical of neoliberalism – is now "repatriated" by Chris Hann, who has deep ethnographic knowledge of provincial worlds in Hungary and Poland. This book is a must for all those interested in socialism, postsocialism, and the critical study of neoliberalism.

Kultura i Społeczeństwo

"Założony cel Repatriating Polanyi zawiera się w dwóch zasadniczych pytaniach, pierwsze brzmi: jakie światło na powstanie i upadek socjalizmu i podobnych epokowych wydarzeń w dziejach może rzucić antropologia społeczno-kulturowa? Jak stwierdza Chris Hann, równie ważne jak uznanie jedności, jak pisze, marksistowsko-leninowsko-maoistycznego socjalizmu jako cywilizacji (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist socialism as a civilization) jest dostrzeżenie odmienności socjalistycznych doświadczeń, które podejmie się zgłębić na przykładzie Węgier i Polski. Drugie z wyjściowych pytań brzmi: jaki wkład w rozwój teorii nauk humanistycznych i społecznych, w szczególności antropologii społeczno-kulturowej, mogą wnieść badania socjalizmu i postsocjalizmu? Można więc domniemywać, że podjęta przez autora praca wypełnia istniejącą lukę. "

Martha Lampland (Professsor of Sociology and Science Studies, University of California San Diego)

In this book, Chris Hann contends that Karl Polanyi’s intellectual repertoire is more relevant than ever. Long an insightful observer of Hungarian rural society, Hann makes a convincing argument by providing an invaluable selection of his writings old and new on the cultural and economic dilemmas faced by Polanyi’s compatriots over the last half century.

Michał Buchowski (Professor of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań)

Chris Hann is a recognized anthropological expert on socialist societies, as well as on Karl Polanyi’s theory of economy embedded in social relations. In this book he applies this double knowledge to a study of the neoliberal postsocialist social formation that has emerged in the last three decades in the region of Polanyi’s origin. This repatriation of his ideas brings first-rate, critical interpretation of the processes currently unfolding in Central and Eastern Europe.

Mihály Sárkány (Senior Honoris Causa, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

Relying on his vast knowledge of Hungary and Poland, Chris Hann demonstrates how ideas concerning property, nation, ethnicity, and religion persisted and played a role in the passage from socialism to postsocialism. This was carried through according to neoliberal principles and it had unexpected results. Hann constructs a powerful argument for Karl Polanyi’s vision of history, his notion of economy as instituted process in society, and his insistence on moral standards in orienting our world, and not only in the countries of Central Europe.

Steven Sampson (Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology, Lund University )

Three decades of postsocialism have been no “end of history.” Chris Hann guides us through the twists and turns of of postsocialist life in Central Europe, from Polish Greek Catholics to Hungarian Mercedes factories, never losing sight of the human drama. This is what anthropology is all about.

Tatjana Thelen (Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna)

This insightful compilation brings together the author’s longstanding efforts to situate Karl Polanyi both at the heart of economic anthropology and also in his region of origin. Spanning topics such as property reforms, civil society, and diverse processes of belonging, the book has much to contribute to the analysis of the current historical moment. Grounded in nuanced ethnography, it will help students of Central and Eastern Europe to avoid the trope of negative othering, thereby opening novel perspectives on emergent futures.