The study outlines the main characteristics of the workers policies followed in the GDR and Hungary from the 1960s, and tries to answer why the labour class getting rid of the paternalistic control of the state party has not opposed the coming new, capitalist system. The welfare dictatorships tried to purchase the political support of the workers by promising a higher consumer satisfaction, while actual leftist solutions were closed for the masses.
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Thoughts about the system based approach, interpreting systems and system changes
"There was no way for me to disagree, and I still fully agree that the world economy should be interpreted as an organic system, which produces uneven and even polarising development, since I myself also explained the gap in international development in the context of the historic development of the world economy. But there was no way for me not to criticise the absolute and exclusive interpretation of the world systems analysis of Wallerstein […] and the explanation of the emergence of the capitalist market economy by a historic accident: by a certain unlash of the creative forces of the ruling elite, […] or rooting unequal exchange in monopolisation and making it the main form of international exploitation, and the idea that running out pre-capitalist reserves will finally limit the global accumulation of capital."
A no-bush has no flower
In its critique, the essay points out the wrong approach of the theory by Wallerstein, illustrating it by the example of looking at the causes of falling profit rates, making the critique practical. According to the author, Wallerstein over emphasizes the role of cognitive factors by analysing world systems separately. It dissolves human history as it is and by neglecting the labour theory of value it does not provide a valid and practical solution for explaining falling profit rates.
The world-systems theory: arguments and problems
The author looks at the world-systems analysis as a recent, up-to-date and adequate form of the Marx rooted critical social theory – contrary to Wallerstein himself, who regards his attempts as establishing a new and interdisciplinary science, although in its direct factors of emergence giving credits to elements of the Marxian tradition. The world-systems analysis, nevertheless offers a fruitful and rich insight, with several players, which can be tested against reality.
The third great transformation: Riding Polanyi into the future
The author is analysing the collapse of state socialism and the return of the illusion of the self-regulating market by using the tools of Polanyi. This transition fits in the third wave of marketisation and commodification, which results in the withdrawal of social rights, the unbounded power of money and transforming nature to a commodity. The researcher sums up the experience of Hungary, before and after the system change, he describes how the attempts for self-governance failed, that would have been a real alternative to the market economy reaching hegemony.