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The development of Marxism in the Soviet bloc during the second half of the 20th century is compared favorably with the advances Ernest Gellner makes in his materialist account of history. The place of the base-&-superstructure metaphor & the question of whether politics or economics is really the epiphenomenon of the other are debated. Dialectical Marxism, as practiced by philosophers V. P. Tugarinov (1958) & Georg Klaus (1965), developed a theory of feedback loops, in which political superstructures gained relative autonomy & determined economics in turn. Gellner applied a similar theory to the development of the modern industrial nation. The possibility that violence can both be transformative & have a maintenance function requires such a dialectical materialist theory of social systems. 14 References. H. von Rautenfeld

While it is obvious that the dominant political-corporate power & vested interests are the largest obstacles to overcoming major problems with the current agribusiness system, the psychological barrier to believing that other systems could work is also a block to change. Cuba has faced a food crisis & through the use of sustainable farming methods has overcome it. It has demonstrated that self-reliance, small farms, & agroecological technology can produce the amount of food the nation needed. After the 1959 revolution, Cuba had a favorable trading status with the Soviet bloc. While three times the amount of land was devoted to sugar production for export, Cuba imported about 57% of its food. With the fall of the USSR & the loss of a favorable trading situation, Cuba faced a food crisis. Substitutes for pesticides, such as biopesticides, natural enemies, resistant plant varieties, crop rotations, & cover cropping to suppress weeds, were adopted. Biofertilizers, earthworms, compost, & organic fertilizers, natural phosphate, & animal & green manures were used for synthetic fertilizers. Animals replaced the tractor. Since small farms adapted to these changes better than the state sector, it was reorganized into small-scale management units that relinked people with the land. Urban gardens were encouraged. By mid-1995 the food shortage had been eliminated & by the following year, Cuba had achieved its highest production for ten of the thirteen basic food items needed. L. A. Hoffman

After reviewing stereotypical notions of cultural globalization in the postcommunist countries of the Eastern bloc, their stereotypical assumptions are challenged using case studies from Hungary. The processes through which Hungary has embraced or resisted cultural change via Western (typically, American) ideas, institutions, & norms is described, highlighting the country's decisions regarding joining NATO, formulating new laws on media, enacting educational reforms, & establishing a national cultural fund. The cultural legacies of Soviet society are examined, along with the increased importation of nonwestern cultural practices & products. Accusations of Western colonization are countered with examples of the willing adaptation of external cultures as a result of unsatisfied demands on the part of the Hungarian people; nonetheless, there is also evidence of ambiguity & resistance concerning cultural importation & many "hybrid" or "glocalized" cultural forms have emerged. K. Hyatt Stewart

After reviewing stereotypical notions of cultural globalization in the postcommunist countries of the Eastern bloc, their stereotypical assumptions are challenged using case studies from Hungary. The processes through which Hungary has embraced or resisted cultural change via Western (typically, American) ideas, institutions, & norms is described, highlighting the country's decisions regarding joining NATO, formulating new laws on media, enacting educational reforms, & establishing a national cultural fund. The cultural legacies of Soviet society are examined, along with the increased importation of nonwestern cultural practices & products. Accusations of Western colonization are countered with examples of the willing adaptation of external cultures as a result of unsatisfied demands on the part of the Hungarian people; nonetheless, there is also evidence of ambiguity & resistance concerning cultural importation & many "hybrid" or "glocalized" cultural forms have emerged. K. Hyatt Stewart