Publication

This paper examines the post-communist transition of Poland and discusses the validity of the neoliberal transition theory and Stark's evolutionary approach as an explanation for the process. It summarizes neoliberal transition theory with a focus on the Shock Therapy policy package, reviews Stark's theory of recombinant property and details the Polish state's actual policies that systematically violated neoliberal precepts. Subsequently, it provides case study analyses of Polish enterprises and sketches a sociological theory of liberal dependent post-communist capitalism in central Eastern Europe. The paper concludes that neither of the theoretical perspectives presented applies to the case.