Transformation during Hyperglobalization: East Central Europe after 1989
The project explores the evolution and transformative impact of globalization in East Central Europe following the fall of communist regimes. Existing scholarship on globalization in the region remains fragmented and often narrowly concentrated on economic aspects and elite actors while overlooking broader societal responses. A key premise of the project is that accelerated globalization beginning in the late 1980s, and post-communist transformation not only unfolded in parallel, but their entanglement fundamentally shaped the character and trajectory of change in the region. Addressing this process, the project undertakes an interdisciplinary analysis of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary, considering globalization’s economic, social, cultural, and migratory dimensions. Central research themes include the timing and dynamics of globalization (with particular attention to dis/continuities from the communist era), the gates and barriers mediating global flows (especially in relation to European integration), and the uneven extent and consequences of globalization across different regions and social strata.
Prof. Dr. Béla Tomka is Head of the Department of Contemporary History at University of Szeged. During his stay at ZZF he researches in Dept. V: Globalizations in a Divided World.