What Was Socialism, and What Comes Next?

Among the first anthropologists to work in Eastern Europe Katherine Verderyhad built up a significant base of ethnographic and historical expertise whenthe majo... » 

Among the first anthropologists to work in Eastern Europe Katherine Verderyhad built up a significant base of ethnographic and historical expertise whenthe major political transformations in the region began to take place. In thiscollection of essays dealing with the aftermath of Sovietstyle socialism andthe different forms that may replace it she explores the nature of socialismin order to understand more fully its consequences. By analyzing her primarydata from Romania and Transylvania and synthesizing information from othersources Verdery lends a distinctive anthropological perspective to a varietyof themes common to political and economic studies on the end of socialismthemes such as civil society the creation of market economiesprivatization national and ethnic conflict and changing gender relations.Under Verderys examination privatization and civil society appear not only associal processes for example but as symbols in political rhetoric. Theclassic pyramid scheme is not just a means of enrichment but a site forreconceptualizing the meaning of money and an unusual form of postMarxistmillenarianism. Land being redistributed as private property stretches andshrinks as in the imaginings of the farmers struggling to tame it. Infused bythis kind of ethnographic sensibility the essays reject the assumption of atransition to capitalism in favor of investigating local processes in their ownterms. «