Hardback
February 15, 2022
9789633863763
English
508
17 tables, 68 figures
9.00 Inches (US)
6.00 Inches (US)
1.38 Inches (US)
1.8 Pounds (US)
$105.00 USD, £85.00 GBP
v2.1 Reference

Everyday Life under Communism and After

Lifestyle and Consumption in Hungary, 1945–2000

By providing a survey of consumption and lifestyle in Hungary during the second half of the twentieth century, this book shows how common people lived during and after tumultuous regime changes. After an introduction covering the late 1930s, the study centers on the communist era, and goes on to describe changes in the post-communist period with its legacy of state socialism.

Tibor Valuch poses a series of questions. Who could be called rich or poor and how did they live in the various periods? How did living, furnishings, clothing, income, and consumption mirror the structure of the society and its transformations? How could people accommodate their lifestyles to the political and social system? How specific to the regime was consumption after the communist takeover, and how did consumption habits change after the demise of state socialism? The answers, based on micro-histories, statistical data, population censuses and surveys help to understand the complexities of daily life, not only in Hungary, but also in other communist regimes in east-central Europe, with insights on their antecedents and afterlives.

About the Author

Tibor Valuch is a social historian and research chair at the Center for Social Sciences, Institute of Political Science, Budapest. He is also professor at the Institute of History, Eszterházy Károly University, Eger.

Reviews

"Tibor Valuch is anything but a newcomer to the field of consumption history of modern Hungary. His impressive oeuvre spans almost four decades of publishing activities, engaging profoundly with the material situation of different social classes, especially during state socialism, but also after the political change of 1989–90. While the bulk of his work has so far only been accessible to Hungarian- and, occasionally, German-speaking academia, Valuch's newest book finally makes the essence of his research on everyday consumption practices in Hungary available to most scholars interested in consumption patterns in Eastern Europe. Based on an analysis filling more than 500 pages, this is a major and highly awaited undertaking."
Link to review: 
https://doi.org/10.5325/hungarianstud.49.2.0277—Annina Gagyiova, Hungarian Studies Review

"Tibor Valuch's publications have been key sources for many of us studying everyday life in Hungary, especially under state socialism. This rich collection of a variety of data and accompanying social analysis is now available for a wider, international audience that it clearly deserves. The rich research foundations of Everyday Life Under Communism will make it a key source for scholars of consumption in Eastern Europe."
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/soeu-2022-0041/html—Zsuzsa Gille, Comparative Southeast European Studies

Endorsements

"Anyone interested in the everyday life of workers, peasants and those belonging to the middle classes under communism will find a wealth of original insights in this inspiring book by Tibor Valuch, in particular regarding the emergence of a communist consumer society and the persisting social inequalities under communism. I find it particularly intriguing that he does not end his story with the end of communism but continues it into the post-communist era, which offers fascinating perspectives on the huge changes that in particular workers had to cope with in the period of massive deindustrialization that hit many industrial regions in East Central and Eastern Europe."—Stefan Berger

"Tibor Valuch's extraordinary book provides a revealing window onto how ordinary citizens experienced historic transformations during the state-socialist period and in the decade after its collapse. It deftly orchestrates an astonishing array of materials to tell this story, from state initiatives to the details of the consumer culture emerging in everyday life."—Krisztina Fehérváry

9789633863763 : everyday-life-under-communism-and-after-valuch
Hardback
508 Pages
$105.00 USD

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