SOCIAL-CHANGE IN EASTERN-EUROPE - SOCIAL CITIZENSHIP IN THE NEW DEMOCRACIES

One of the greatest gains of the new social system is the civil and political rights citizens now repossess. In other words, the traditional ''negative'' freedoms of modern capitalist democracies are now legally guaranteed, even if the political institutions and the civil movements, which are usually underpinning these rights, are not yet fully consolidated. In what follows, an attempt is made to map the most important processes affecting the (re)construction of citizenship in ex-socialist countries. A special emphasis is put on social policy which is instrumental in guaranteeing social rights, an integral part of (social) citizenship.