Overview

This book revisits the embrace of liberal capitalism in post-communist Eastern Europe to show that recent concerns about the rise of populist movements obfuscate the limits and the contradictions inherent in the concept. The imposition of the liberal framework’s economic policies, institutional designs, and ideology across an entire region provides a unique opportunity to show the effects of the European project. Chapter contributors explore how the problems of the framework are most visibly demonstrated in post-communist countries, where the internal tensions of liberal capitalism clash with locally embedded values. Recent research has focused on developments in the region in terms of how much the respective countries have strayed from liberal standards. This book replaces this discourse with a more profound and fresh interpretation of regional developments by exposing some of the underlying dominant ideas as ill-equipped to grasp the complexity of the current predicament. Bridging economy, politics, and culture this interdisciplinary study will be of particular interest to scholars and students of political philosophy, European law, international relations, political economy, cultural studies, history, memory, and identity.

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9781032125664

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Petr Agha is a legal scholar and socio-legal theorist whose work explores the intersections of law, power, and social transformation. He holds a PhD in law and is a research fellow at the Institute of State and Law of the Czech Academy of Sciences. His academic focus includes constitutional theory, critical legal studies, European integration, and post-socialist transitions. Drawing from interdisciplinary approaches, Agha interrogates the normative assumptions of liberal democracy and technocratic governance, with a particular emphasis on the post-1989 transformations in Central and Eastern Europe. He is the editor of several volumes on law, identity, and the politics of inclusion, and has published widely on topics, including human rights, populism, and the politics of European values. Beyond academia, he engages in public discourse through essays, media commentary, and cultural projects that challenge the boundaries of law, art, and activism. Petr Drulák is a Czech political scientist, diplomat, and public intellectual. He is currently a professor at the Department of International Relations at the University of West Bohemia and a former director of the Institute of International Relations in Prague (2004–2013). His academic work bridges political theory, international relations, and European studies, with a particular focus on the ideologies of liberalism, technocracy, and post-communist transformation in Central and Eastern Europe. Drulák has authored and edited numerous influential books and articles on foreign policy, European integration, and international political theory. Beyond academia, he served as the Czech Republic's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (2014–2015) and later as ambassador to France (2017–2021). His contributions continue to shape both academic and policy debates on Europe’s political and ideological future.

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