Between difference and adjustment - The re-/presentation and implementation of post-socialist (communist) transformation

Since the collapse of the communist regimes some 15 years ago, the at first rather simplistic assumptions about the quite similar nature of the 'other side' of the Iron Curtain soon were revealed as such. The conditions in the different countries proved to be much more complex and differentiated, making policies more difficult to target and outcomes to predict than initially presumed and propagated. As it emerged, the process of 'transition', has thus emerged as a multidimensional, complex phenomenon of 'transition', shaped by a set of overlapping and intersecting variables, pointing to the need for a more detailed understanding and interpretation of the changes observed. And this includes the use of terminology, even such fundamental terms as 'post-/socialism' versus 'post-/communism' or 'transition' versus 'transformation'. These differences reflect variations in the perception and implementation of post-communist regimes, as viewed and interpreted from both within and without the relevant countries or regions. And this is illustrated by the collection of papers in this special issue.