On the Lost Purpose of Transition
On the Lost Purpose of Transition

Summary/Abstract: After a quarter of a century, it is not a waste of time to reassess the effects of the transition process. Have we missed the purpose? The transition can be given scrutiny through different models, but also through the integration process which runs danger of falling into the pit of constructivism. The transition was (or should have been) about moving from a hampered into an unhampered market society in the first place. It is obvious that we are far from there. The new political global landscape in the making will probably drive further away. That is why some international financial organisations and academics seem to be changing their focus. Probably logically so, but the true question is whether the process and the policy-making is about letting an individual make decisions freely, or about reconstructing paternalism in different forms including the battle between those who want to close down to the globalisation and those who claim the opening up is an inevitable process. Reducing corruption and increasing transparency along with long haul education reforms that spur entrepreneurial spirit in order to make political and market reforms sustainable, may be a quest to seek the lost purpose of transition.

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