ABSTRACT
The demise of the Communist systems in Eastern Europe and their integration into wider global structures has enabled analysis of these former Communist countries in the context of the experience of other, non-Communist countries. The former Communist countries have been widely expected to follow patterns already set out (mainly) by Western countries. However, whereas the incorporation of the countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the global capitalist system seems to be inevitable, the assumption that social, political and economic change will directly follow past Western experiences is less plausible.
