Anarchism / Marxism debates

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

At 09:44 AM 8/19/99 -0400, Doug Henwood wrote:
>
>Because they seem invented largely out of thin air, in a "Wouldn't it 
>be nice?" mode, rather than saying how the present set of 
>institutions and associated forms of consciousnessness can be engaged 
>and transformed. With these participatory planning schemes, you're 
>telling people in a world of Wal-Marts that they'd have to go to 
>meetings, which would excite their boredom reflex.
>
>

In this context, the anthology by Hausner, Jessop and Nielsen (eds.)
_Strategic Choice and Path Dependency in Post Socialism in the
Transformation Process_, Aldershot (UK) and Brookfiled (US): Edward Elgar,
1995 can be quite informative.  Drawing on Eastern European experience, the
authors argue that institutional history of a society (or path dependency
as they call it) can significantly affect and upset any attempt of reforms
imposed "from above" - by which they mean both the imposition of central
planning and the more recent market reforms.  A good piece of institutional
analysis for self-styled social engineers and revolutionaries.

wojtek