Hrvatska: centar ili periferija? Ispitivanje potencijala teorije internacionalizacije kapitalizma
Croatia: Center or Periphery? Examining the Potential of the Theory of Internationalisation of Capitalism

Summary/Abstract: The analysis is focused on punctual examination of the analytical potentialof theory as regards the empirical sphere. For this purpose, the author optedfor theoretical theses regarding the internationalization of capitalism and thecase of Croatia. Unlike the usual scientific practice, in which the theoretical framework is perceived as a pre-formalised and static element of the research design, it is postulated in this paper that a different understanding of the theoretical perspective is possible and analytically useful. Such an understanding is based on dynamisation, flexibilisation and opening up of the theoretical horizon with a view of reflecting the particularities of the empirical sphere. Here the potential of theoretical insights is examined simultaneously with the conducting of empirical analysis. In this approach, which partly relies on the Grounded Theory and symbolic interactionism, the reexamination of the potential of theory is not limited to the research design stage. No, it is perceived as a process the course of which is intense even while the empirical analysis is conducted. Accordingly, it is assumed that the usual way does not make possible a sufficient reflection of the particular traits and surprises in the empirical field, for the following reasons: a) the character of the theoretical theses determined in advance is too general, and/or b) the theses are extrapolated from socially and historically different, or, at best, somewhat similar empirical cases. Furthermore, every pre-determined theoretical focusing simultaneously implies a reduction of perspective which should be avoided through recognition of empirical circumstances. In addition to putting forward a methodology of examination, the demonstrated approach to examining the potential of theoretical theses is oriented toward identification of the possibilities and limits of the chosen theoretical apparatus. The examination of possibilities and limits is understood as the basis of theoretisation, with the aim of generating theoretical fragments of concepts which would be able to reflect the peculiar and new empirical circumstances.

• Details
• Contents