SOCIAL JUSTICE IN POST-COMMUNIST SOCIETIES
Venue - Faculty of Political Science, Belgrade, September 24-25, 2022
Abstracts submission deadline - August 1, 2022
Apply at - politicke.nauke.srbije@gmail.com
Over 30 years have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the start of political and economic transformation of the communist world. Is it the right time to take stock of the phenomena? Granted, post-communist societies are different from communist ones. Are they also more just? We look into one particular aspect of the post-communist transformation – just society from a political, economic, and social point of view.
Dominant ideas of 1989 were derived from the success of the market in the US and the UK. Central and Eastern Europe was supposed to imitate the West and catch up with it by implementing their political and market institutions. The introduction of private property and the market would create not only an efficient economy and prosperity, but also a more just society. The idea of a just society in the post-communist world was derived from the ideas of meritocracy, positive selection, and market justice. Market institutions will enable positive selection, which will produce a realistic evaluation of the market contribution of each individual. Once the market determines everyone’s worth, we will know how resources should be allocated. Did this bring about social justice?
Although market reforms did bring about some progress, the “tide that should have lifted all boats” has unfortunately never appeared, and it seems that most post-communist economies today are less fair than 32 years ago. The market concept of transition did not only result in larger social and economic inequalities, deeper divisions between the well-off and the badly-off, but also in democratic decline, the rise of right-wing, populist, and anti-establishment parties.
We propose to look into the problem of just transformation in several areas:
- Theories of social justice and the post-communist transformation
- Political representation and social justice
- Public policies, institutional behavior and just redistribution
- Media and the discourse of justice
- Social welfare in postcommunist societies
- Inequalities in post-communist societies
- Marxism, communist inheritance, and the post-comunist justice
- The rise of populist, right-wing and iliberal political parties during the post-communist transformation as a response to economic policy
- Culture, nations and border politics in the post-communist context
- Green transformation and just society
- Challenges of digital transformation and work rights to just society
- Transformations of civic activism
- Emotional upheavals as response to (in)justice in the post-communist societies
A special by-invitation panel about the war in the Ukraine will be organized. The panelists will discuss the current conflict from a perspective of transitional justice and geopolitical aftermath of the breakdown of the communist system.
To apply, please email us your application that contains: the name and the affiliation, the title of your presentation, the panel you are applying to, abstract (up to 250 words) and 3-5 keywords.
Email to politicke.nauke.srbije@gmail.com; deadline: August 1, 2022
International Organizational Committee
Prof. Toni Rodon, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain
Prof. Sonja Grimm, Konstanz University, Germany
prof. Ana Matan, University of Zagreb, Croatia
prof. Vesna Leskošek, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
prof. Đorđe Pavićević, University of Belgrade, Serbia
prof. Bojan Vranić, University of Belgrade, Serbia
