Facing the Future: Eastern Europe in the Global Context
Facing the Future: Eastern Europe in the Global Context

Summary/Abstract: The paper contains the synthesis of long-term studies on the current transformation of Eastern European societies. Its most visible result is the differentiated definition of social space and time resulting from the experience of profound changes. The closer scrutiny of the process reveals a series of other cognitive and practical challenges. The bureaucratic intransparence of state socialism was replaced by new complexities due to globalization and rapidly changing regional settings. The traditional peripheral or semi-peripheral position of Eastern Europe re-appeared in the new division of labour. The ongoing commercialization undermines social integration. The emerging “small” state is still establishing its institutional structures and mechanisms. It turned out that the desirable value-normative universalization based on the idea of human rights has alternatives in the revival of nationalism and other particularistic ideologies. They have their fertile soil in the far-reaching differentiation of life chances. The above developments are interpreted as a great opportunity for social sciences to refine their conceptual frameworks and research instruments.

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