Social Stratification in Central Europe: Long-term Developments and New Issues

Description

This book provides a comparative and contemporary account of social stratification in the Central European states of Czechia, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia (the Visegrad Four – V4 group), and also by contrast with Austria. It looks at the shared history of these countries as part of the erstwhile Austro-Hungarian Empire. While the V4 states experienced, for decades, the regressive authoritarian Soviet rule, Austria escaped this fate. The question is how some common historical roots, impact of the communist regime, and transition paths have shaped the specific social structures of V4 countries which differ despite belonging to a relatively homogeneous region. The book examines the changes and developments through analyses of large comparative surveys and other data collected after 1990, most notably using the European Union’s survey “Statistics on Income and Living Conditions” (EU-SILC) that has been fielded since 2005. The book starts with an outline of the long-term developments in key social structure dimensions which occurred during the post-communist transition. The analytical chapters then discuss topics previously not much examined in social stratification perspective: subjective well-being, couples’ status, cultural activities and differences among retirees. This book is intended for social scientists working on stratification research, and, specifically, V4 societies and politics. Terminological Note Technical Note Acknowledgement Contents About the Author Abbreviations Chapter 1: Introduction: Countries, Datasets, and Themes in Focus 1.1 Visegrad Countries and Austria 1.2 Transition Theories and Comparative Datasets 1.3 Socio-economic Categories and the Structure of the Book References Chapter 2: Regime Change and Developments in the Main Dimensions of Social Structure 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The Self-Employed and Entrepreneurs 2.3 Educational Expansion 2.4 The Service Sector 2.5 Income Inequality 2.6 Inequality in Wealth 2.7 Conclusion References Chapter 3: The Development in Subjective Well-Being and Its Social Stratification 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Literature on SWB in Central and Eastern Europe 3.3 Data Sources and Overall Trends 3.4 SWB According to Socio-economic Categories 3.5 Conclusion Appendix Mean values of variables in the regression (EU-SILC survey and Module on Well-being, 2018) References Chapter 4: Setting Social Status in Couples and Partners´ Budgetary Discretion 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Two Research Fields: Social Status and Well-Being 4.3 Data sources, Variables, and Methodology 4.4 Couples´ Dynamics and Partners´ Budgetary Discretion 4.4.1 A Description of the Composition of Couples 4.4.2 A Description of the Budgetary Discretion of Partners 4.4.3 Analysis of the Budgetary Discretion of Partners 4.5 Conclusion Appendix Descriptive statistics (mean values) References Chapter 5: Cultural Participation and Cultural Activities Stratified 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Sources of Data and Variables 5.3 The Analysis of Cultural Participation 5.4 Conclusion Appendix 1 Eurobarometer Surveys Appendix 2 Questions on Cultural Activities Social Stratification in Eastern Europe after 1989 (SSEE) of 1993-94 Appendix 3 Variables into Analysis and Mean Values A. Description of variables B. Mean values of variables References Chapter 6: Pre-retirement Socio-economic Status and Well-Being of Older Persons 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Literature Overview 6.3 Research Question and Data Sources 6.4 Analysis of Objective and Subjective Well-Being 6.5 Conclusion Appendix Variables in Analyses A. Description of variables B. Mean values of variables (non-active retirees 60+) C. Personal pensions and equivalent household incomes in % of Austrian level (non-active retirees 60+) References Chapter 7: Conclusion: New Opportunities for Empirical Research on Social Stratification References Appendix Main Data Sources Socio-economic Classifications