ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book brings together the study of 'neoliberalism' and that of 'postsocialism', and creates a dialogue between two, parallel narratives of global socio-economic change. The conceptual work done by scholars of neoliberalism can benefit those with a critical eye on the post-socialist condition by opening up for a new engagement with discourses of 'market transition' as cultural process that look beyond questions of direction and development. As a conceptual cousin of 'globalization', the concept of neoliberalism has suffered the similar problems of scale, territory and theoretical ambiguity. Jonathan Larson, for example, highlights die importance of Slovakia's historical engagements with other forms of political and economic liberalism for the contemporary organization of personhood, warning against the danger of over-emphasizing the post-socialist rupture.
