Myths of shock therapy

Philipp Ther talks neoliberalism’s toll on the peripheries

After ’89, the ideology of ‘free’ markets prevailed not just in eastern Europe, but also in the West. The consequences were particularly evident in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and the 2010 euro crisis. What effect did the economic restructuring have on the European project and what are the key issues facing Europe today?

Contra the myths of ‘shock therapy’, economic transformation after ’89 was not a one-way street. Rather, argues Philipp Ther, it is better understood as a set of ‘neoliberal feedback loops’ between East and West. Transnational convergences accompanied growing internal inequalities, the partial success of neoliberalism taking its toll on the peripheries.

Economic historian Philipp Ther of the University of Vienna gave a lecture at the 30th European Meeting of Cultural Journals ‘Europe ‘89: The promise recalled’, 2 November 2019 in Berlin.

Read Ther’s corresponding article in Eurozine:

Find more videos and articles from the Eurozine conference ‘Europe ‘89: The promise recalled’, 1-3 November 2019 here.

Published 3 February 2020
Original in English
First published by Eurozine

© Philipp Ther / Eurozine / Heinrich Böll Stiftung

PDF/PRINT

Newsletter

Subscribe to know what’s worth thinking about.

Related Articles

Cover for: Farewell to dreamland

Farewell to dreamland

1989 and its legacy

Three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, we are yet to come to terms with 1989’s historical significance, let alone the challenges of the present. What is the actual meaning of the ‘annus mirabilis’ and everything that followed? If this question is still unanswered, perhaps our approach is flawed, suggests Karl Schlögel.

Cover for: To each their own censorship

When does political pressure reach its breaking point? As censorship methods get subtler, eastern European journalists rely on the popular support for independent journalism to stand their ground against rampant Orbánization.

Discussion