New book: Všechno bylo nové. Česká ekonomika po roce 1989 – několik pohledů na transformační proces očima dobových protagonistů
KRÁTKÁ, Lenka: Všechno bylo nové. Česká ekonomika po roce 1989 – několik pohledů na transformační proces očima dobových protagonistů [Everything Was New. The Czech Economy After 1989 – Several Perspectives on the Transformation Process Through the Eyes of Contemporary Protagonists]. Praha: Karolinum, Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR, v. v. i., 2023. 170 s. ISBN: 978-80-246-5664-9.
The book contains a collection of edited interviews with ten men and one woman, actors of the post-Soviet transformation of the Czech economy, which is not only a reflection of the transformation period of the 1990s itself, but also an interesting example of the intertwining of great history and personal career trajectories. The interviews capture a wide range of experiences, from the highest, decision-making level (the National Property Fund, ministries) to the reflections of participants in the privatization process and „transforming“ managers of formerly socialist enterprises to new entrepreneurs who seized the opportunity to become owners and founders of companies. The testimonies of the memoirists are complemented by a methodological essay and an interpretative chapter that traces some of the strategies of „coping with the past“, i.e. how the narrators maintain a symbolic distance from the negative phenomena accompanying today’s general awareness of transformation and privatisation.