Capitalism from Outside?

Economists, historians, sociologists and anthropologists of the region studied transnational cultural encounters in the post-communist economies by scoping on smaller and bigger firms in the new market conditions, governmental bodies that shaped economic policies and regulations, and the academic settings of economic science. Producers and mediators of economic culture are examined in various contexts. Comparative studies are offered in three areas: entrepreneurship, governance of economic change, and economic knowledge. Case studies analyze country specific issues. The numbers and scope of encounters between the economic actors of the "East" and the "West" - which have dramatically increased during the past two decades - are scrutinized. Chapters in the volume reveal how indigenous actors - workers, entrepreneurs, government officials, economists, think tank analysts etc. - in Eastern Europe, select (accept, adjust and mix) certain cultural packages while rejecting others. Although cultural exchanges are rarely symmetric, there is little to prove that "strong Western" culture devours (civilizes) the "weak Eastern" one, or "clashes of civilizations" drive capitalist transformations in the region.