Revolutions of 1989 (Routledge, 1999) brings together some of the most influential and provocative articles on the collapse of communism in Eastern and Central Europe, one of the most important events in recent world history. Prefaced by a comprehensive historical introduction and written by some of the prominent analysts and architects of the revolutionary upheaval, the essays examine the economic, political and social nature of modern revolutions, the legacies of dissent, the extent of the collapse of Leninist regimes in Europe and the political and ethical tensions of the post-communist situation.
Exista momente cand valurile de minciuni proferate ad nauseam despre prietenii tai si despre tine ajung sa te lase indiferent. Cand enormitatile rostite insolent nu te mai afecteaza, fie si numai pentru ca este limpede care sunt resorturile sordide ale acestor atat de repetitive, de ignobile atacuri. Ceea ce nu inseamna ca trebuie ignorate si ca [...]
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The role of ideas in the demise of Communist regimes can never be stressed too much. These “ideocratic partocracies”, in Martin Malia’s phrase, could not outlive the death of their utopian underpinnings. Societies in East Central Europe, the Soviet Union and elsewhere had been rebuilt according to ideological blueprints: the command economy, the New Man, universal surveillance over mind and body. By the 1980s, the time of the true believers had passed, even if many retained their Party cards. It was the revolt, and the revival, of the mind that killed the Communist Leviathan, not just among dissidents, but also among disenchanted Communist intellectuals, who had become increasingly convinced of the system’s decrepitude.
Ultima actualizare în Luni, 02 Noiembrie 2009 14:52
The role of ideas in the demise of Communist regimes can never be stressed too much. These “ideocratic partocracies”, in Martin Malia’s phrase, could not outlive the death of their utopian underpinnings. Societies in East Central Europe, the Soviet Union and elsewhere had been rebuilt according to ideological blueprints: the command economy, the New Man, universal surveillance over mind and body. By the 1980s, the time of the true believers had passed, even if many retained their Party cards. It was the revolt, and the revival, of the mind that killed the Communist Leviathan, not just among dissidents, but also among disenchanted Communist intellectuals, who had become increasingly convinced of the system’s decrepitude.