Conclusions: Limitations of the Old and New Mainstream Narratives

While earlier historical interpretations emphasized the relative isolation of European state socialist countries after World War II, a significant body of recent research challenges this view, suggesting instead that these countries were much more global than previously assumed. This line of research claims that their extensive relations with the Global South largely compensated for their muted ties with the West. Revisionist studies also question the impact of regime changes on globalization in the region, emphasizing the continuities between the pre-1989 and the post-communist periods. In this context, the book explores how East Central European state socialist countries fit into the general trend of globalization after World War II, focusing on foreign trade, capital and information flows, and the movement of people. Conceptual problems are also addressed, such as the value of recently introduced terms like ‘alternative globalization’ and ‘socialist protoglobalization’ for understanding state socialist globalization. In doing so, the study strikes a balance between traditional and new mainstream interpretations. It acknowledges that East Central European societies experienced significant globalization during the state socialist era. However, based on empirical evidence, this study proposes other notions, including fragmentation, selectivity, and unevenness to conceptualize this process, rather than ‘alternative’ or ‘proto-’ globalization.