Dr. Marija Stambolieva

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The dissolution of Yugoslavia took place in parallel with the collapse of the entire Eastern bloc. One of the main characteristics of communism was popular acceptance of the given political order in exchange for basic economic standard and social benefits. The presumed social contract between the population and the political elite legitimized the strong communist welfare state. This changed at the onset of the political and economic order change and the start of the democratization journey. The social contract was redefined. The justification was that neither was it possible to maintain full employment, nor was the state able to "generously" allocate public resources in order to finance pensioners' consumption and public goods, such as high-quality universal health care, free university education, social care etc. This coincided with certain contemporary trends in the developed democracies. The voices of 'neoliberal' criticism were most prominent regarding the situation of the economy, state and society. In particular the welfare state was labeled as a hurdle to development. The collapse of communism seemed to give additional argumentation to this view. In that sense, the new political elites in the post-communist societies often undertook neo-liberal reforms as a means of breaking with the communist past. These processes have been however uneven and complex across the post-communist world.

The research focus of the thesis lies on the social policy transformation in selected successor states of the former Yugoslavia in a context of political change. The study compares four country cases (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia) and explores the reasons for their post-socialist trajectories.

The modern scientific thought offers theories which provide explanations to the development of the welfare policies, and the factors which predetermine the process and the final outcome of that development. Schmidt et al. (2007) provide a comprehensive literature review of the most prominent theoretical schools of thought: the Socio-economic School, the Power Resources Theory, the Partisan Theory, the Political-Institutional Theory, the International Hypothesis and the Historical Institutionalism Theory. It will be necessary to examine to what extent the known social policy research approach will be applicable to grasping new social realities, shaped in the context of economic and political transformation, development, state-building, democratization, European integration, and global social change. My work intends to do just that, for which purpose I have developed an explanatory framework. My preliminary assumption is that initial conditions are a strong predictor of post-communist welfare trajectories and that the welfare regime change is a product of the interplay between external influences and domestic interests.

The thesis applies the comparative method and explores the differences and similarities among the countries. Although the societies in question coexisted within the same federal state and had a shared welfare system, their starting point was different, having in mind the cultural and economic legacy of pre-war Yugoslavia, as well as the different level of their development in the framework of the federation. Furthermore, these countries experienced different specificities during the transition, which had different impact on the way the welfare system was shaped (for example: impact of war, internal conflict, international lending...). During the period of transition, the welfare states of the former Yugoslavia also faced similar challenges, such as rapid decline of economic activity, political insecurity, as well as the need to establish a functioning market economy and a viable democracy. The way in which the domestic actors balanced the various pressures may be key for understanding the welfare state trajectories. The research design thus links distant and recent factors in explaining welfare regime diversity.

The focus of my research is on the social policy of selected former Yugoslavian countries in the context of political change. This topic has not been sufficiently researched so far. While the social policy of developed industrialized countries is relatively well embedded in research, this is not the case for post-socialist and developing countries. Nevertheless, the growing interconnectedness on a global level has increased the interest and need for a better understanding of other regions. It is therefore necessary to examine the extent to which familiar approaches can explain new social realities that have emerged in the context of political change, economic development, democratization, globalization and European integration. My doctoral thesis has precisely this aim - to shed light on the Balkan puzzle and to situate it within welfare state research. As social change and social policy reforms in developed industrialized countries are simultaneously challenging familiar academic thinking, the dissertation can also open up new perspectives for comparative research.

For a detailed description, please read the English version.

"Welfare State Transformation - comparing social policies' development in the post-Yugoslav states: Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia"

Contact us

The PhD at the University of Kassel has enabled me to further pursue my interest in development and transformation issues, which I have developed through various academic, professional and volunteer activities. For several years, I have been involved in project development and policy advice with various international and local organizations, which further motivated me to embark on a dissertation project. At a certain point in my career, I felt that a PhD would contribute to my personal and professional development and open up new career opportunities. The PhD has allowed me to explore new areas of research, build on existing strengths, develop new skills and connect with people with similar research interests. As my dissertation compares four countries and primarily examines developments in four policy areas of social policy over the course of 20 years, the work is very time-consuming. Due to a lack of data, previous references relating to these countries and in particular their social policies, the process of researching the literature and placing the research project within a theoretical framework has proved challenging. Nevertheless, the complexity of the topic has both fascinated and motivated me to continue.

Publications

Monographs

Journal articles

Book chapters

  • Stambolieva, Marija. 2012. Migracije i sigurnost u starosti (Migration and old-age security). in Vuković, Drenka and Perišić, Natalija (eds.). Rizici i izazovi socijalnih reformi (Risks and challenges of social reforms). Beograd: Univerzitet u Beogradu - Fakultet političkih nauka.
  • Stambolieva, Marija. 2011. The Nexus between Politics and Socio-economic Development in South-Eastern European Transition: the Macedonian Case. in Ehrke, Michael (ed). Export-led Growth in the Western Balkans: Central European Experiences-Magic Formula for the Western Balkans? (pp. 131-145). Belgrade: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung; available under: http: //ssrn.com/abstract=1920929
  • Gjorgievski, Mate and Stambolieva, Marija. 2007. Comparative experiences in the use of EU pre-accession funds - How to avoid the mistakes? in Successful implementation of IPARD funds (pp.7-23). Skopje: Macedonian Center for International Cooperation & Macedonian Enterprise Development Foundation.

 

Conference proceedings

  • Stambolieva, Marija. 2012. Kosovo - from state of welfare emergency to welfare state? Economic Development and Political Transition in Kosovo. October 12-13, 2012. Prishtina: American University in Kosovo.
  • Stambolieva, Marija. 2011. Transformation of the Labor Relations in South-Eastern Europe, in Strukturwandel der Arbeit-Strukturwandel der Organisationen. University of Kassel and Hans Boeckler Foundation.

Chapters in periodicals

  • Stambolieva, Marija. 2005. Benefits of cross-border partnerships. in Civic practices No.8 (pp.9-16). Skopje: Macedonian Center for International Cooperation.
  • Stambolieva, Marija. 2005. Euro-integration and youth NGOs. in Civic practices No.10 (pp.9-16). Skopje: Macedonian Center for International Cooperation.

Working papers

  • Stambolieva, Marija. 2012. Labor Migration and Social Security Coordination: Effects on Welfare in Countries of Origin and Destination - the cases of Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo, Vienna: Erste Stiftung, available under: http: //ssrn.com/abstract=2063030
  • Stambolieva, Marija. 2010. Privatization of the (Welfare) State - post-socialist Transformations in the former Yugoslavia. in Staat oder Privat? Actors and Processes between States and Societies in Eastern Europe (pp.135-139). Forschungstelle Osteuropa, Bremen, Arbeitspapiere und Materialien No.109, Beiträge für die 18 Tagung junger Osteuropa-Experten.
  • Rahkola, Joonas, Stambolieva, Marija, and Tevdovski, Dragan. 2009 The Global Financial Crisis and its Socio-economic Effects in Macedonia - the Social-democratic Response to the Crisis. Skopje: Progres Institute.
  • Stambolieva, Marija. 2008. Youth in Macedonia and the Labor Market - Situation and Recommendations. Skopje: Progres Institute.
  • Stambolieva, Marija, Tevdovski, Dragan, and Spasov, Aleksandar. 2008. 555 Days of conservative rule in Macedonia. Skopje: Progres Institute.

Master Thesis

  • Stambolieva, Marija. 2012. The Relations between the German Constitutional Court, the Court of Justice of the European Communities and the European Court of Human Rights in light of Human Rights Protection: Way out of the Labyrinth. GRIN Publishing House.

Curriculum vitae

Marija Stambolieva's research focuses on the social policy of selected former Yugoslavian countries in the context of political change. She holds a law degree from Ss. Cyril and Methodius University-Skopje and a Master's degree in European Studies from the University of Hamburg, from which she graduated with honors/summa cum laude. Her current research interests include transformation of statehood and politics, democratization, development and social policy.

Before joining the University of Kassel in 2010, Marija Stambolieva headed the "Progres Institute", a Skopje-based think tank, where she was responsible for the development and coordination of the Institute's activities. The focus of the Institute's work was on policy building and policy advice in the fields of economy, energy, labor market, social, health and education policy. Marija Stambolieva has also worked as a research assistant at the "Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, and has worked as a policy advisor for various organizations and institutions, such as the Council of Europe (Strasbourg), the European Youth Forum (Brussels), the European Student Union (Brussels), the University of Twente (Enschede), SPARK (Amsterdam), and the Center for Education Policies (Belgrade). During her studies, she worked as an intern at the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia and the EFTA Court in Luxembourg. She is a former student leader and youth activist.

She is fluent in English, German, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian and Bulgarian. Her mother tongue is Macedonian.