Lajos Héthy
The Fragile Tripartism of New Democracies
(Labour Relations in Central-Eastern Europe)

The paper offers a comparative analysis of a new (to Central-Eastern Europe) phenomenon: national level institutionalized tripartism (neo-corporatism). It describes tripartism and its functioning in: public policy formation; the prevention and settlement of social conflicts; and in the formation of new relations to labour and employment. It also attempts to determine which political and economic considerations have contributed to the birth and survival of tripartite structures, and which political and economic weaknesses make them vulnerable. The paper concentrates on Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
 

Petr Mateju
Determinants of Economic Success in the First Stage
of the Post-Communist Transformation.
The Czech Republic 1989-1992

There are several theories concerning the process of post-communist transition. The theory of 'markel transition' assumes that inequalities will decrease when the redistributive sector of the eoonomy diseappears. The theory of the different forms of capital predicts the conversion of accumulated social capital, i.e., the 'class of redistributors' are expected to preserve their advantageous positions. The paper tests these hypotheses on the dala of two surveys of the same sample, undertaken within the framework of the 'Family 89' project in 1989 and 1992. It has been found that the best predictions are provided by the theory of the forms of capital, while the change from the state sector to entrepreurship seems to be the most successful strategy.
 

Gábor Felkai
Critical Remarks on Habermas' Theory Action

The main thesis of the paper is that Habermas theory of action mergers transcendental pragmatic argumentation with empirical statements and the power structure of society. Since this theory of action neglects the Weberian types of traditional and effective action, its conneption of the life-world is consined to the sphere of interpersonal communication.
 

Ferenc Huoranszki
Revealed Preferences and Irrationality

Recent works on the philosophy of the social sciences and on the philosophy of the mind have raised questions about the role and epistemological status of rationality in the attribution of beliefs and desires. After characterizing rational action as expected utility maximization, the paper attempts to show (1) that rationality plays a role in social sciences comparable to a method of measurement and (2) that this implies the of acceptance of a weak form of externalism in the philosophy of the mind.
 

Anna Wessely
The Connoisseur: the role of conjunctive knowledge in modern society

First presented at the Mannheim session of the '100 ans de sociologie' conference (Paris, June 1993), the paper focuses on the particular type of knowledge required for participation in the modern art world. It argues that Karl Mannheim's analysis of the connoisseur in his posthumously published Structures of Thinking; provides an illuminating account of the emergence, functions, diffusion, institutionalization and transformations of connoisseurship as one of the forms of a community-bound, conjunctive knowledge.
 

Dénes Némedi
The Family, the Corporations, and the State:
Durkheim's communicative conception of "consciousness"

Durkheim's writings and lectures from the second half of the 1890s, discussing the family, the corporations, and the state, point to a sociology of knowledge that is different from, and less well-known than, his later version of the sociology of knowledge. In this conception, communication plays a central role. Intensive relationships and high social density produce specific ideas within families and corporations and more universal, integrative ones within a state. For this approach to the sociology of knowledge, the main question is no more the relation between'existential base' and 'spiritual products'.
 

Tibor Papházi
German Association Model and Its Development

The formation of modern associations accompanied the disintegration of the society of estates. There arose social groups which sought to achieve their political goals by uniting in associations. Another impulse to form associations was provided by "social problems" demanding the union of forces in coping with the social ineqnalities created by developing capitalism.

The groups which created associations belonged, in respect of their property relations, culture, and political aspirations, to the middle class. Their opposition to feudal society is also evident in the organization of their associations, which reflected the ideas of civil constitutional thought. For instance, the functions of decision and execution came to beseparated into different roles; denying privileges of birth, members had equal rights; positions were no more hereditary but gained through election.

ln its organization an association may go through changes. The main form these changes take is a shift from a small and amorphous organization to a large, bureaucratized, vertically and horizontally differentiated association. Association may also change into another type of organization: for instance, a political party.
 

Olga Tóth
Becoming a Parent

The article analyses the objective and subjective timing of parenthood by using the results of án empirical study of a group of mothers expecting their first child. The change into parenthood occurs early both from the point of view of age and social maturity. It indicates that increasing pressure on the young strengthens the tendency to become a parent early; moreover, this can be described as an important turning point in the process of becoming an adult.
 

Tibor Kuczi
Occupational Relationships and Strategies in Entrepreneurialism

Over the past two to three years private companies have come into existence in Hungary at a faster rate than the leadership experience needed to make them work.

The paper investigates which occupational relations in the new enterprises, their development from pre-existing connections, and how these previous relationships undergo change during the development of the companies.

Several cases are descrabed, among them the role played by the former (state-owned) workplace in the development of business contacts; the utilization of previous connections that have been established either through cooperation in the second economy or developed within the traditional neighbourhood and authority relationships of local communities or, finally, within the extended family.
 

Beáta Nagy
Women in Leadership

The study, based on a secondary analysis of international and Hungarian statistical data, provides an overview of the leading positions occupied by women in society and the economy:

Although the number of women in positions of leadership and power is growing, they do not enjoy the same chances as men of reaching leading positions. This difference is not explicable in terms of the different educational levels or economic activities of the two sexes.

The income data show large differences in earnings between groups of leaders, due to the fact that women have a smaller chance of getting into higher ranking positions. A staitdardization of job levels makes the greater portion of income differences between the sexes disappear.

The study also delves into women's participation in political leadership by looking at the composition of Parliament, the central and local governments. The examination of economic elites also demonstrates that women only reach lower level positions in the hierarchy, while having to pay a high price for their careers.