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In this collection, twelve philosophers, historians, and political philosophers-scholars with a diverse set of disciplinary and political leanings-assess aspects of socialism in light of its recent reversals. Some of the essays consider what made the socialist project seem compelling to its advocates, examining the moral and political values that made socialism appealing to intellectuals. Others evaluate whether there are aspects of socialism that ought to be preserved, such as its quest for equality and community. Some essays examine whether free-market systems need to be further modified in response to ongoing socialist critiques. Several others argue for the continuing validity of socialism in its social democratic incarnation, suggesting ways in which socialism may still have a productive future. Still others condemn the socialist project as inherently misguided in theory, while also portraying 'really existing socialism' as cataclysmic in practice.

Post-communism. --- Postcommunism --- World politics --- Communism --- Arts and Humanities --- Philosophy

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"This book offers a single, coherent framework of the political, economic, and social phenomena that characterize post-communist regimes. Focusing on Central Europe, the post-Soviet countries and China, the study provides concepts and theories to analyze the actors, institutions, and dynamics of post-communist democracies, autocracies, and dictatorships. The work explores the structural foundations of post-communist regime development; the types of state, with an emphasis on informality and patronalism; the types of actors in the political, economic, and communal spheres; the ways autocrats neutralize the institutions of public deliberation (media, elections, etc.); the color revolutions of civil resistance (as in Georgia and in Ukraine) and the defensive mechanisms of democracy and autocracy; the evolution of corruption and the workings of "relational economy"; an analysis of China as "market-exploiting dictatorship"; the sociology of "clientage society"; the instrumental use of ideology, with an emphasis on populism; and a six-regime framework for modeling regime trajectories. Written in textbook style, the book is suitable for both beginners who wish to understand the logic of post-communism and scholars who are interested in original contributions to comparative regime theory. The book is equipped with QR codes that link to a website, which contains interactive, 3D supplementary material for teaching"--

Post-communism --- Europe, Eastern --- Social conditions --- Politics and government --- Postcommunism --- World politics --- Communism --- postcommunism, political systems, authoritarianism, mafia state, hybrid regimes, populism,.

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The first political theory of post-Communism examines its implications for understanding liberty, rights, transitional justice, property rights, privatization, rule of law, centrally planned public institutions, and the legacies of totalitarian thought in language and discourse. The transition to post-totalitarianism was the spontaneous adjustment of the rights of the late-totalitarian elite to its interest. Post-totalitarian governments faced severe scarcity in the supply of justice. Rough justice punished the perpetrators and compensated their victims. Historical theories of property rights became radical, and consequentialist theories, conservative. Totalitarianism in Europe disintegrated but did not end. The legacies of totalitarianism in higher education met New Public Management, totalitarian central planning under a new label. Totalitarianism divorced language from reality through the use of dialectics that identified opposites and the use of logical fallacies to argue for ideological conclusions. This book illustrates these legacies in the writings of Habermas, Derrida, and Žižek about democracy, personal responsibility, dissidence, and totalitarianism.

Post-communism. --- Totalitarianism. --- Totalitarian state --- Authoritarianism --- Collectivism --- Despotism --- Dictatorship --- Fascism --- National socialism --- Postcommunism --- World politics --- Communism

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After German unification, former officers of the GDR state security service united with GDR professors and cultural managers to establish the East German Committee of Associations (OKV). On the basis of encompassing oral history into this complex web of interest organizations and memory clubs, Bouma argues that these activists are driven by an epistemic nostalgia: a longing for the time when their political understanding of the world was seemingly unchallenged. Far from constituting a 'second life of the Stasi', the main goal of OKV associations has been to validate the personal biographies of their activists, against the now prevalent view that the GDR was a 'state of injustice'. While the OKV quickly adapted to the new legal procedures in post-socialist Germany, their staunch defence of the GDR heritage complicates their relation to SED successor party Die Linke and other radical left parties and associations, even when they share practical goals.

Collective memory --- Post-communism --- Postcommunism --- World politics --- Communism --- Germany --- History --- Memory, nostalgia, GDR, post-communism, Stasi.

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The renowned historian Ivan T. Berend discusses populist demagoguery through the presentation of eighteen politicians from twelve European countries spanning World War I to the present. Berend defines demagoguery, reflects on its connections with populism, and examines the common features and differences in the demagogues’ programs and language. Mussolini and Hitler, the “model demagogues,” are only briefly discussed, as is the election of Donald Trump in the United States and its impact on Europe. The eighteen detailed portraits include two communists, two fascists, and several right-wing and anti-EU politicians, extending across the full range of demagoguery. The author covers Béla Kun, the leader of the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, weaving through Codreanu and Gömbös from the 1930s, on to Stahremberg and Haider in Austria, and then more broadly throughout Europe from Ceaușescu, Milošević, Tuđjman, Izetbegović, Berlusconi, Wilders, to the two Le Pens, Farage, and Boris Johnson, Orbán and the two Kaczyńskis. Each case includes an analysis of the time and place and is illustrated with "ations from the demagogues’ speeches. This book is a warning about the continuing threat of populist demagogues both for their subjects and for history itself. Berend insists on the crucial importance for Europe to understand the reality behind their promises and persuasive language as imperative to impeding their success.

Politicians --- Authoritarianism --- History --- 1900-2099 --- Europe --- Biography, Communism, Fascism, Media studies, Political theory, Populism, Postcommunism.