Kristen R. Ghodsee is Professor of Russian and East European Studies and a Member of the Graduate Group in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her articles and essays have been translated into over twenty languages and have appeared in publications such as The New Republic, The Lancet, Ms. Magazine, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. She is also the author of nine books, most recently: Second World, Second Sex and Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism, which has already had thirteen foreign editions.

Mitchell A. Orenstein is Professor and Chair of Russian and East European Studies and a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is the prize-winning author, editor, and co-author of eight books on the social policy and political economy of postcommunist states, including From Triumph to Crisis, Privatizing Pensions, and Roma in an Expanding Europe. He has consulted for the World Bank, USAID, and the government of Slovakia.

"Laudable" -- Anders Åslund, Europe-Asia Studies

"Ghodsee has teamed up with political scientist Mitchell Orenstein to present a comprehensive survey of all the evidence that things have gotten worse for Eastern Europe since 1989" -- Helen Andrews, The American Conservative, The American Conservative

"Taking Stock of Shock results from a massive interdisciplinary endeavor, and it is a timely and crucial contribution to the debate on postsocialism. Knocking down disciplinary walls, Ghodsee and Orenstein provide a uniquely broad insight into the post-socialist landscape. This is more than merely a scholarly achievement. Building a compelling new narrative is crucial to help break down the walls of inequality and precarity that limit the actual exercise of the freedoms post-socialist citizens nominally gained when the Berlin Wall fell." -- Gabor Scheiring, Review of Democracy, Review of Democracy

"Ghodsee and Orenstein have written a provocative book. Drawing on an impressive array of economic, demographic, public opinion, and ethnographic data, they critically analyze the emergence of stark inequalities that have generated tremendous hardships for many and enormous benefits for some." -- Gail Kligman, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, UCLA

"From a starting point of cacophony, where different disciplines and data seem to depict the post-Soviet transition as either a grand success or an absolute failure, Ghodsee and Orenstein seam together a convincing narrative where both achievements and disappointments can coexist. The book's focus on widening inequality allows reconciling these opposing views and providing crucial insights not only for scholars of transition countries but also for observers and policymakers in other regions" -- Maurizio Bussolo, Lead Economist, World Bank