How accurately did Western political scientists portray the political, economic, and social developments in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe over the last forty years? How did scholars' perspectives, methods, and findings differ, and what were the principal research trends during the Communist era that recently ended in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union? This comprehensive and definitive critical history of Soviet Studies takes stock of the achievements and shortcomings in Western research on the region's politics. It serves as a who's who of Western Sovietologists, and it identifies many prominent political scientists from the former Communist states.
This major reference opens with an overview of sources of research, an analysis of different approaches and perspectives to the study of the region since 1956, and an assessment of post-sovietological literature of the 1990s. The volume contains individual chapters on the former USSR and the eight East European states. Cross-national chapters include two on Soviet and East European international politics, two on Soviet and East European economic reforms, and one on comparative communist studies. An appendix points to Russian and East European research centers and programs around the world. A general index makes it easy to access the names of authors and subjects. This landmark reference should prove to be stimulating reading for the many political scientists, historians, sociologists, and economists, once engaged in Soviet studies and for the new generation of scholars who bring fresh analytical approaches to evaluating the region's politics.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Preface
Introduction by Raymond Taras
Albania by John Kolsti
Bulgaria by John D. Bell
Czechoslovakia by Sharon L. Wolchik
German Democratic Republic by Joseph S. Gordon
Hungary by Maria Szeplaki and Raymond Taras
Poland by Paul G. Lewis
Romania by William Crowther
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics by Valerie Bunce
Yugoslavia by Jim Seroka
Soviet Foreign Policy by James M. Goldgeier
Economic Reform in the USSR by John M. Litwak
Economic Reform in Eastern Europe by Miklos K. Radvanyi
Comparative Communist Studies by Daniel Nelson
Appendix: Research Center Programs on the USSR and Eastern Europe
Index
