"A New Capitalist Order breaks with mainstream empirical studies of privatization in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, arguing that privatization was designed and implemented by pro-market reformers not only to distribute gains and losses to powerful supporters, but also to advance a decidedly Western, liberal vision of the new postcommunist state. Moreover, specific ideologies - such as anticommunism, liberalism, or nationalism - profoundly influenced the legitimacy, the power, and even the material preferences of key economic actors and groups within the privatization process."--Jacket.