In the last years of the Soviet Union, with remarkable suddenness, it became commonplace to observe that what the country needed was a free market, private property and integration into the global economy. But why (aside from the obvious fact that the alternative was failing) should this consciousness dawn in our day? This book argues that the time has come to reflect on what the epochal events of our era are teaching us about larger questions - the relationship between economy and society, culture and market. Dusan Polorny asks precisely these questions, revisiting the ideas of classic and contemporary philosophers in the light of the failure of the Soviet order and the exigencies of post-Soviet transformation. As Pokorny also points out, integration in a post-industrial global economy entails profound changes in the domain of property rights, a redefinition of the relation between equity and efficiency, and a regrounding of national consciousness. The present volume examines the implications of these demands for the post-Soviet societies; another, on the European and North American experiments in economic integration, is in preparation.
