Events over the last two years in Ukraine have been the most significant development in the region covered by this journal for several years; throwing a number of questions we have covered in previous issues into sharp relief, in particular, the difficulties posed on the one hand by aggressive neo-liberalism encouraged by Western governments and international institutions and on the other, by the attempts by Russia to attain regional dominance and to exert influence. Unfortunately, these events have also highlighted a third recurring concern of the journal; the relatively limited space for progressive groups and movements within the region to chart an independent course between these alternatives and to resist their harmful impact on popular aspirations, despite continuing persistence and bravery in the face of adverse circumstances. In this issue, we publish two contrasting analyses of Ukrainian developments by David Mandel and Catherine Samary. We hope that these illuminating and perhaps controversial viewpoints will stimulate further discussion amongst our readership and we would very much welcome contributions dealing with all aspects of Ukrainian politics, economics, and society.
The remainder of the articles in this issue deal with a variety of topics crucial to Central and Eastern Europe which have also been matters of ongoing concern for the journal. Andrei Alexandru Babadac focuses on the question of media influences on political culture, especially amongst young people, and provides a case study from Romania which reaches some fascinating and surprising conclusions. An important question for many Central and East European countries either as recent members of the European Union (EU) or as current applicants for EU membership is that of how to influence decision-making in a set of institutions often dominated by larger states. Petr Kaniok and Robert Majer provide a detailed analysis of the Czech case which also challenges conventional wisdom on a number of points. We continue our analyses of the origins and outcomes of the 1989 revolutions in the region with Eduard Roth’s discussion of Romania, which places particular emphasis on the theory that social changes resulted from external subversion. The informal economy and its social effects remains a key issue for Central and Eastern Europe and Colin C Williams and Josip Franic here describe an important example from Croatia which has wider implications for the region as a whole. Finally, our discussion of contemporary German culture continues with Joseph Cronin’s penetrating account of the Fassbinder controversy and its impact on Jewish identity.
We are also very pleased to be publishing a range of book reviews in this issue; dealing with the economic contradictions affecting the Baltic states, the public sphere in Slovakia, industrial labour in Hungary during the 1940s and 1950s, critical Marxism in Romania, and a range of questions relating to politics and culture in Yugoslavia. It is a special pleasure to note that Tamas Krausz, who has long been a supportive presence for this journal and its predecessors, Debatte and Labour Focus on Eastern Europe was awarded the Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize last November for his book Reconstructing Lenin: An Intellectual Biography, reviewed by Gus Fagan in the last issue. This award is a fitting recognition of Krausz’s significant contribution to intellectual life and political honesty in the region, often demonstrated during difficult times.