Reforming Communism, Refusing Capitalism
The Rise and Fall of the Concept of "Socialist Market"
Will be published approx. on 11. June 2026
Book
Hardback
472 pages
978-1-7936-3180-0 (ISBN)
Description
Reforming Communism, Refusing Capitalism: The Rise and Fall of the Concept of "Socialist Market" focuses on the concept of "socialist market,: a cornerstone of political economy in Soviet-type societies undergoing economic reforms from the 1950s onward. Encouraged by the success of non-capitalist mixed economies, market reformers (also called 'market socialists') offered the communist ruling elites a remedy for the persistent crises of the planned economy. Besides optimal planning and pluralization of social ownership, this was the third major attempt under existing socialism to revise the communist utopia of a centrally planned economy free from private property and the market.
The authors trace the rise and fall of marketization theories in the communist era in eight countries of Eastern Europe (including the Soviet Union) and China, describing why the mission of mixing the planned economy and the market, while refusing large-scale private ownership and accepting one-party rule, was doomed to fail. The protagonists of the socialist market contributed to the rehabilitation of certain liberal doctrines in economic research and policy in the Soviet empire and beyond, which did not develop into a coherent liberal (let alone, neoliberal) program.
The authors trace the rise and fall of marketization theories in the communist era in eight countries of Eastern Europe (including the Soviet Union) and China, describing why the mission of mixing the planned economy and the market, while refusing large-scale private ownership and accepting one-party rule, was doomed to fail. The protagonists of the socialist market contributed to the rehabilitation of certain liberal doctrines in economic research and policy in the Soviet empire and beyond, which did not develop into a coherent liberal (let alone, neoliberal) program.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
4 b/w tables
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-7936-3180-0 (9781793631800)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Janos Matyas Kovacs
Reforming Communism, Refusing Capitalism
The Rise and Fall of the Concept of "Socialist Market"
E-Book
05/2026
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€107.99
Available for download
Janos Matyas Kovacs
Reforming Communism, Refusing Capitalism
The Rise and Fall of the Concept of "Socialist Market"
E-Book
05/2026
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€107.99
Available for download
Persons
Janos Matyas Kovacs is senior member at the Research Center for the History of Transformations at the University of Vienna, and permanent fellow emeritus at the Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna.
Content
List of tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Marketing the Market? Understanding Reformism in Communist Economic Thought
Janos Matyas Kovacs, Institute for Human Sciences, Austria
Chapter 1
At the Periphery of Market Socialism. Market Concepts in Bulgaria
Pencho D. Penchev, University of National and World Economy, Bulgaria
Chapter 2
Reform of the System or Reform Within the System? Intellectual Traditions and the Long Market Debate in Mainland China and Taiwan
Sheng Peng, University of Vienna, Austria
Chapter 3
Not a Struggle Forever. Central Planning and Ideas of Market Reform in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1990
Julius Horvath, Central European University, Budapest
Chapter 4
East Germany - A Case of Failed Modernization
Hans-Juergen Wagener, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) and Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Netherlands
Chapter 5
How Many Waves Did Reform Economists Ride in Communist Hungary? Second Thoughts on the New Economic Mechanism
Janos Matyas Kovacs, Institute for Human Sciences, Austria
Chapter 6
Marketization of the Socialist Economy. Debates in Poland under Communist Rule
Piotr Korys, University of Warsaw, Poland and Maciej Tyminski, University of Warsaw, Poland
Chapter 7
Market Culture in Romanian Economic Thought under Communism
Valentin Cojanu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Chapter 8
Unholy Alliance. Socialism and the Market in Soviet Economic Discourse
Oleg Ananyin, Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia and Denis Melnik, Higher School of Economics University, Russia
Chapter 9
The Rise and Fall of Socialist Market Economy
Joze Mencinger, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Conclusion
Reflections on an Oxymoron. The Sad Fate of the Concept of the Socialist Market
Janos Matyas Kovacs, Institute for Human Sciences, Austria
Index
About the editor
About the Contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Marketing the Market? Understanding Reformism in Communist Economic Thought
Janos Matyas Kovacs, Institute for Human Sciences, Austria
Chapter 1
At the Periphery of Market Socialism. Market Concepts in Bulgaria
Pencho D. Penchev, University of National and World Economy, Bulgaria
Chapter 2
Reform of the System or Reform Within the System? Intellectual Traditions and the Long Market Debate in Mainland China and Taiwan
Sheng Peng, University of Vienna, Austria
Chapter 3
Not a Struggle Forever. Central Planning and Ideas of Market Reform in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1990
Julius Horvath, Central European University, Budapest
Chapter 4
East Germany - A Case of Failed Modernization
Hans-Juergen Wagener, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) and Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Netherlands
Chapter 5
How Many Waves Did Reform Economists Ride in Communist Hungary? Second Thoughts on the New Economic Mechanism
Janos Matyas Kovacs, Institute for Human Sciences, Austria
Chapter 6
Marketization of the Socialist Economy. Debates in Poland under Communist Rule
Piotr Korys, University of Warsaw, Poland and Maciej Tyminski, University of Warsaw, Poland
Chapter 7
Market Culture in Romanian Economic Thought under Communism
Valentin Cojanu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Chapter 8
Unholy Alliance. Socialism and the Market in Soviet Economic Discourse
Oleg Ananyin, Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia and Denis Melnik, Higher School of Economics University, Russia
Chapter 9
The Rise and Fall of Socialist Market Economy
Joze Mencinger, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Conclusion
Reflections on an Oxymoron. The Sad Fate of the Concept of the Socialist Market
Janos Matyas Kovacs, Institute for Human Sciences, Austria
Index
About the editor
About the Contributors