The Origins of Backwardness in Eastern Europe: Economics and Politics from the Middle Ages until the Early Twentieth Century

by Daniel Chirot (editor)

Reaching back centuries, this study makes a convincing case for very deep roots of current Eastern European backwardness. Its conclusions are suggestive for comparativists studying other parts of the world, and useful to those who want to understand contemporary Eastern Europe's past. Like the rest of the world except for that unique part of the West which has given us a false model of what was "normal," Eastern Europe developed slowly. The weight of established class relations, geography, lack of technological innovation, and wars kept the area from growing richer.

In the nineteenth century the West exerted a powerful influence, but it was political more than economic. Nationalism and the creation of newly independent aspiring nation-states then began to shape national economies, often in unfavorable ways.

One of this book's most important lessons is that while economics may limit the freedom of action of political players, it does not determine political outcomes. The authors offer no simple explanations but rather a theoretically complex synthesis that demonstrates the interaction of politics and economics.

Genres: History, Economics

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Sergey Steblyov · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a collection of papers from a conference, which makes it likelier that one won't read it in full (as I did not, indeed). Enjoyed Brenner's chapter, with his "backwardness of eastern europe is a problem badly posed" and an elaboration of his detailed and sophisticated theory of agrarian capitalism (which, however, pertains to western europe, not eastern).

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The topic is very worthy of an edited volume, with many different voices, many different perspectives and research methodologies, and many different answers to a persistent question.