A Gloss on the Time-travel of System Changes

The book contains sociological studies and critical analyses on the social process of the system change in Hungary since 1989-1990. The author undertakes two endeavors: he first provides a detailed sociological diagnosis of the social consequences of the system change in Hungary, on ground of empirical investigations lead by the author during twenty years. The book describes the changing living conditions on the countryside, reveals the effects of the economic restructuring on the life of workers, the women and the youth. He reflects as well on the inaptitude of the political class to find satisfying solutions to the vicissitudes of the transformation crises for broad social strata. In the second part of the book, searching for answer of the fiasco, the author reflects on the Hungarian history of recurring, mainly unsuccessful attempts of reforms aiming to overcome the economic and social underdevelopment. Neither the semi-peripheral dependent („sham”) capitalisms uneven embourgeoisement nor the radical, dependent state socialism was able to resolve the problems of development, while the recent system change with its dual economy and social disintegration is undermining the political democracy.