Postsocialist Europe: Anthropological Perspectives from Home

Now that nearly twenty years have passed since the collapse of the Soviet bloc there is a need to understand what has taken place since that historic date and where we are at the moment. Bringing together authors with different historical, cultural, regional and theoretical backgrounds, this volume engages in debates that address new questions arising from recent developments such as whether there is a need to reject or uphold the notion of post-socialism as both a necessary and valid concept ignoring changes and differences across both time and space. The authors' first-hand ethnographies from their own countries belie such a simplistic notion, revealing, as they do, the cultural, social, and historical diversity of Eastern and Central European countries.

Laszlo Kurti taught anthropology at the American University, and Eotvos University in Budapest, and presently teaches at the University of Miskolc. He conduced fieldwork in the US, Romania and Hungary. His books include: Beyond Borders (1996, co-edited with J. Langman), The Remote Borderland (2001), Youth and the State in Hungary (2002), and served as co-editor for Working Images (2004).

Peter Skalnik studied in Prague, Leningrad and Cape Town and specializes in political anthropology (state and chiefdom). He conducted fieldwork in four continents and interests include anthropology of Europe, diplomacy, media and anthropology. He taught social anthropology at Charles University of Prague, Comenius University of Bratislava, University of Leiden, University of Cape Town and presently University of Pardubice. He was ambassador of his country in Lebanon (1992-1997). His publications include (only edited or co-edited volumes): The Early Writings of Bronislaw Malinowski (CUP 1993), The Post-communist Millennium: The Struggles for Sociocultural Anthropology in Central and Eastern Europe (Set Out 2002), Anthropology of Europe: Teaching and Research (Set Out 2004), Socialist Era Anthropology (LIT 2005).