Social and economic rights in the Soviet bloc

Review

Article

Comparative

Timothy

Brook,

London:

M.

John

M.

Marco

ed.,

Ernest

Mandel,

David

R.

Press

Ltd.,

Peter

J.

Heinz

Books,

pp.

George

R.

ed.,

1987),

C.

pp.

pp.

Continuity

(San

New York

and

and Change in Soviet-East

Francisco

and

London,

Boulder,

238.

The Future

of Gorbachev’s

USSR

York

(New

and

214. The

Macmillan

and

New

and Society (Cambridge

The Soviet Union: Par9

pp.

ed.,

1988),

pp.

York:

253. and London:

275.

Social and Economic

Books,

Yanov,

and

1988),

pp,

Brunswick

Rights in the Soviet Bloc (New

and

249.

The Russian Challenge and the Year 2000

(New

York:

Basil

Blackwell,

pp. 302. revolutionary

challenge

transformation

to students

of Eastern

of communist

politics,

changes,

the traditional

or, to use Stephen

research

strategies

the

reconsidered.

for

field of comparative Eastern

developing

Europe world)

studies

its eroding

and in the global

0213-10

COMMUNISM, $03.00

0

links

VW..

of

XXIII,

1990 University

communist generation”

a new phase,

within with

condition

1989-1990

terminology,

“second areas

in

and economy.

White’s

is entering

of geographical and

Europe

society, study

on several

communist

salience

STUIII~SIN COMPARATIVE 0039.3592/90/02

comparative

As my comments

in the emerging and

eds.,

West

The Decline of the World Communist Movement (Boulder 1987),

Urban,

York

166.

Potter,

Perestroika,

Press,

Transaction

Alexander

New

313.

Timmermann, Press,

pp.

for the

1989),

1989),

University

Westview

in China (Armonk,

204.

The Social Impact oj- the Chernobyl Disaster (London:

1988),

Potichnyj,

Oxford:

William

Press,

Marples,

Cambridge

pp.

1989),

Implications

Beyond

Verso

1989),

Inc.,

and

Westview

London:

Inc.,

a Third Generation?

The Chinese Communist Party’s Nomenclatura (Armonk,

Relations,

Colorado:

Toward

The Asiatic Mode of Production

E. Sharpe,

Carnovale

European

The

ed.,

E. Sharpe,

P. Burns,

London:

Communism:

the

No.

systems

ought

works

which (e.g.,

Union,

1990, 213-222

to

will indicate,

a phase

2, SUMMER

of these

generati‘on”

the field of research Soviet

a major

“second

of “communism.”

ofCalifbrnia

poses

In the light

China,

be the

appears Central and

the

214

Srun~~s

Spring The

Socialist

Project

has failed

in Eastern

regimes

revival

and Bulgaria,

in Romania must

next

be “factored

generation

After

came

1989,

that

beyond books

hiatus

in less than

and

White’s

comparative

political

revolutions

days

would

the

of

of October, change

coming

socio-political

their

of these

changes

at, but not predicted

analytical, respect

normative

According

to

it accounts

for

the

of

communist

are

with

any

the

extensive

departure

summarizes

the

the

better

illustration,

he gives

works

“parent

core”

established

of

what

social

he

in the

to be descriptive

science

Soviet

than

almost between than

rigorous

with

methods.

which

emerged

in

and

no longer

the

respects:

of communism for

calls

rather

problem-solving

literature

of

of comparative

was accorded

rather

a

literature

systems

model

tended

the

analysis

of

national

accepts

varieties

of

second

review

vulnerable trap”

the previous

list of works here belong

feature

reductionist

body

of

the

led either

fallacy

and

politics,

and comparative as being

more

as points

of

comparative

law.

“more

sophisticated”

to the second the

broadly

(p.

generation next

of inquiry. second

accumulated and

These

221)

based,

and,

moreover,

boundaries literature,

as an

second

knowledge in

respects,

step

was

the

had proved

to be

amounting

to

or to relapses generation

to be brought

even

in some

important

generalizations, This

needs

and,

most

generation

to unbounded

of Soviet-centrism.

structures

data

of this kind.

and achievements,

of literature

outdated

empirical

of comparative

literature

to White,

boundaries

with all its merits whole

generation

According

which

and

administration,

and theoretically

a long

as well.

handbooks and

disciplines”

public

of the geographical

historically

offered

of the

generation

and speculative

model

of this journal,

was paid to the relationship

expansion

research;

founded

under

one

“comparative therefore,

“hard

the Soviet

important

of statistical

comparative

empirically

most

the

generation

in three

(Soviet)

use

rejoining

economics,

extension

second

for comparative

it began

to a third

its

approach

of modern

geographic

a single

with

empirical,

the first

deficiencies

issue

Generation”

politics;

it makes

White

the

from

and

attention

whole

than

Second

on

of this kind,

little

The

1987,

the

sees it, the first

mainly

utilization

White,

differs

utility

dealt

rather

to the appropriate

mid-1970s,

especially

In works

system.

in the Summer,

Towards

As White

and relatively

and the social

essay

achievements

studies,

Europe.

hegemony

politics

the

politics.

studies

and Eastern

exclusive

review

on

communist

communist

the

incremental

in the

who had published

to predict

be guessed

matrix

Europe

authors

for failing

may

to the outside

the autumn

in the early

face of Eastern those

is that whereas

Politics:

communist

comparative

(1)

point

thoughtful

discussion

the

1987-1989

up of Albania

of 1968,

collapse

and partial

of precision.

thoroughgoing

The

the political

The

collapse

of a new political

predict

no one can blame

of revolutions

Communist

(3)

Spring

No one could

years

“Comparative

(2)

the Prague

months

The

the coming

Stephen

Union

studies.

Union.

their

opening

as elements

communist

since

in the

changes.

predictable,

and the cautious

surprise.

three

and in the Soviet

and Czechoslovakia,

(or included)

Therefore,

papers

revolutionary degree

in”

as a complete

recognition.

Europe

in the GDR

of comparative

the 20 year

1989

(1)

COMMUNISM

in the Autumn

of the neo-Stalinist world

IN COMPARKIYVE

a

into

literature,

up to date because: is but

its

an

backward

analysis

of

looking

Comparative posture, (2)

is in need

summary

of extensive

judgments

ized area academic should As

gradually

the

process

comparative

the

of global

democratization

question

raised

answer

time

by Adam

is definitely

anything

about

the Russian

question

of interest could

to Yanov

this

cannot

Yanov

the “Leontiev

offers

history

the usual

and

Alexander

III

been

to integrate

course

of nearly

dozen

Polands?”

In Yanov’s ideology

a century; (p. view

of the

cannot

would

“R ussian

Russian

of this

what

New

in the terms

challenge

and

interpretation

there

the dictatorial

(national

butter

over

peaceful

values

this “protestant”

affecting

For

returns

to the

the USSR?

so many

analyses

about

Yanov’s and

guiding

Thus

extent

According

he extends

As a general

his

explanation,

of the contradictions

1880s

Konstantin

because,

imperial

other to what

Union?”

knowledge.

In the

the

we still do not know

in the Soviet

of

Leontiev

as he argued,

Byzantine

culture

to us if we had to handle generating

“We

over

another

sovietology.

sense

the half

with

reform,

and Brezhnev

were Luther

in the

paternalistic,

transformation

of the

in the primacy

consumer

satisfaction,

sees in this the possibility

of the

Gorbachev

of a return

of and

the representatives and

is

as a warning

its ascetic,

its belief

was the Soviet

the

is why the West serves

or “denominations”

with

in the revolutionary

of economic

Yanov

book

trends

idea,

of Russo-centrism

This

Yanov’s

protestantism)

Stalin

the “Russian

concept

communists)

belief

Khrushchev

from

traditional

are two major

(Soviet

Yanov,

tradition.

Leontiev’s This

nightmare

outcome

different

empire

and has offered

respond

to this

to arms

has come

was prepared

countries;

“Hungary

resources

horizons

follows

to dictatorship

2000.

model: can

mystical

imperative

denomination.

by the year Today

the

coexistence.

dictatorial

to pieces.

and

the post-dictatorial guns,

In

Yanov

“Whether

in peace,

the

In this

In Yanov’s

and

the process. of new

about

studies.

of conventional

or danger.

leadership: isolationist

not

is to know

the essence

our

challenge”

Right

signal. and

is:

future.

happen

Soviet world;

the

and

284).

the

be understood

unaware

Alexander

historical

into

to embrace

continuity.

field

Europe

Poland

as

to include politics

for evidence

despite

to illustrate

Eastern

politics

of communism

begins

and “organized”

of Soviet

its possible

to leave

study

and

all there

for change

without

dilemma”

advised

if

communism.

that

in the

framework

to predict

haven’t

able

to test

and its historic need

be answered

beyond

Russian

thinks

experts

the system’s

investigation

and,

politics.

its boundaries like

“ruled”,

mentality

comparative

it is comparative

Do we know

Yanov

from

forward

comparative

is “governed”,

meet

goes

widen

beyond,

to most

be rethought

and in reconceptual-

comparative

Challenge and the Year 2000,

“no”.

Union

The

Europe,

I would

B. Ulam:

ways the Soviet

Gorbachev

must

efforts

The Russian

must

fold of comparative

in Eastern which

but at the same

In his book, His

to the general

recent

regimes

communism

untenable.

return

most

215

and

has become

communism,

examining

and communist

of comparative

transformation

Generation?

in the form of “regionalization”

studies;

separation

disciplines

revolutionary

within,

preferably

and country

the traditional

Toward a Third

overhaul;

on Marxist

need be, corrected, (3)

Communism:

first

has demonstrated herself

systemic production)

true.

among

heterogenous

them

in two

or the

Soviet

liberalization

Hungary.

that liberalization

as a model crisis

The

by the “tacit”

Yanov is possible

for the rest to follow” broad

directions:

post-dictatorial

(more

uses

is going

Hungary

within (p.

the

empire

of “protestantism”

285).

The

“dictatorial”

resources

as a

the medieval Soviets (more

for consumer

STUDIES IN COMPARATIVE COMMUNISM

216 goods).

Yanov

sharply:

“Is

his worries ology

suggests

ready

exaggerated,

toward

“Conventional” Soviet

East

and

selected these J.

from

Potichnyj,

serves

suggests,

in fact,

Victor

Zaslavsky,

Nationality seeable In

in the USSR

a worker

from

Tula

opposing

assess

grew

These

(p.

20).

The

a doubt,

two papers

Bourmeyster,

resistance

demonstrate

and

comparative

Michael

the

Bruchis

communist

is an excellent

and to start

a new,

Marples’

Soviet

“The

in Pravda written problem:

and the ability

was greater significantly

of

by

than

how do we

of Gorbachev

that anticipated

as nationality

effort

E.

in favor

to gain

relations

out

and intrinsic,

as well as in this

Urban,

Alexandre

of the new

a better

to break

emphatic

in general

Michael

the balance

attempt

more

book,

direction

understanding

from

the second

analysis

The Social Impact ofthe Chernobyl Disaster,

generation political

resulted

sovietology.

system.

from

The

much

more

weaknesses.

It is now evident

of the

deficiencies

of the

unexplored,

it is an implicit

of the incident

Marples

Chernobyl

design

impact

today.

essay,

of

of the generation

of Soviet

policy

and

mind.

second

1986,

the fore-

dubious

in his

a crucial

of sovietology

studies

This

themselves

26,

in 1989-90

shifts

studies.

Russians

entire

“In

of nationality

seems

a letter

changes

increased

the unevenness

adding

literature David

radical

in 1985.

of and

the role of the party-administrative

Hill has identified

this resistance

Nevertheless,

beyond

about

sovietology like those

stability

which

is

of the work

Stratification

analysis

of

disruptive.

volume.

the Soviet

already

One

by Peter

and papers

predictions

overall

a solid

of over

edited

unevenness

Social

Hill quotes

a statement

changes

Divided: of the

Development”.

volume,

of for

160 papers

non-conventional

outdated

offers

of the apparatchiki to resist

Beyond

more

Hill

The

in participants

is a conclusion

227)

J.

containing

this resistance?

in 1985.

were

disruption

(p.

Ronald Political

radical

the ability

to counter

is unlikely”

volume,

and Soviet

Apparatchiki

major

a form Congress

as representative.

to say that

Groups

Union”,

any

reached World

papers.

extreme

from

It is easy

“Ethnic

in the Soviet

The

soviet-

the participation

600

be viewed

of conventional

literature.

conventional

now

with

than

the increase

of the analysis.

paper

however,

same

can safely

for whether

separation

generation

Policy

this

layer

as a test case

in his

future,

relations

15 volumes)

has

1985) more

very

We may Iind

indisputable.

by the Third

(Washington,

his warning

“no”.

to go beyond

The Soviet Union: Party and Society. This

a real

in the second

is again

sovietology

presenting

to the improvement

even

an effort

was exemplified

Studies

(in

is titled,

proportional

This

41 countries

for publication

volumes

and formulates

His reply

” is, in my understanding,

“unconventional”

production. European

delegates

will prevail

2000?”

he makes

generation and

mass

for the year

but that

a “third

intellectual 3000

that the first option

the West

macro

than

Soviet

Chernobyl

nuclear

merely

that these

sub-text

uses

system.

and not on a coherent

station

Although

this

focuses

introduction

case

accident

for the of April

of human

and weaknesses

which

case of going

as a test

a combination

errors

in a book

power

is a clear

error

and

are symptomatic

point

remains

largely

on the consequences

to the weaknesses

and

of Soviet

society. Marples incident “gross

points as being

violations”

tragic

night.

The

blame

themselves,

and lack of control

out that the result of the response

before

the Chernobyl

of human technological

error

discipline

by the authorities

the stagnation and discipline.

and

Soviet

negligence. had

defendants

period, blamed

authorities But

occurred

to this newly

of the Brezhnev The

trial,

the trial regularly

published

the

proved

that

before

indictment

and the resulting the incident

explained

the

was to

inefficiencies

on faulty

design

Comparative and by implication the often

on the scientific

heated

hierarchy.

debates

However,

challenge

Chernobyl

Within

variety

marginal Union

the victory Mandel,

the Soviet

two big countries scene the

revolution

which than

and the United

have the largest

40 years,

qualified

manpower

referred

to by Mandel.

The

working

class,

as principal lutionary

Left”

future believes

stands

represents

Yanov

could

come

and

elementary

outbursts

themselves

these the

continues

to worsen,

(2)

partly

ones

the

radicalized

version

scenario,

first,

difficult, a working

mostly success

of perestroika

although

class

victory

still

Yanov

hope

success

role

active.

by

may

turn

and

nationally,

of the

spring’

For Mandel

the slogan,

that

Gorbachev’s

if the

“All

power

reforms

Mandel. by the and

in an attempt economic it is much

(1) the dictatorship empire

leading

class.

Mandel

also

likely;

the

scenario

quo

which

kind

These has

to of

offer

his own

second,

either;

is more

to the status

easier

of the New

to some

of the working least

to

situation

leadership.

of perestroika)

it is the fourth

under

Trotskyism

‘), is not very likely

a full return

for

not only

of re-organizing

for perestroika,

is the

the failure that

event

process

scenarios.

of Gorbachev,

For

the

of the bureaucratic three:

threat.

the New Russian

movements

and,

and upsurge

(‘ ‘Moscow

to the threat

anemic

to a new

identify

ways,

Mandel

the

In

scenario

in the

which of this

a promising

also

“New

In many

of the bureaucracy images

century

of the

influence

and for Mandel

and

complementary

(i.e.,

figures

of “revo-

for a 19th

a growing

mirror

class.

the fortresses

he admits

class

a “classical”

spirit

perestroika is endangered

working

movements

the

it has

working two major

looking

increasingly wing

but

we can

but

if not impossible. we

for

or “Ottomanization”

a conservative

outcomes,

While

storm

have

present

is to find a positive

of which

the erosion

contradictory

Soviet locally

and (3) the anomical

scenarios:

other

may

the challenge

the negative

collapse,

both

these

in the

to Mandel,

ways

in the

ideas

it may

Gorbachev’s

movements

workers

said,

To

but are

although

“classical”

the increasing

to power

nationalists

of the

social

organize Although

is a danger

(Russian)

the

and in many

that

of the modernist

us that

of pre-

class.

the political

according States

in

since

classes

from

side of perestroika and Gorbachev,

Right

latter

class,

“socialism”

is becoming

the New Russian

nationalities

Right,

which

Mandel

reminds

ifnot

in terms

working

The

place

working

countries,

Simply for

because

and

this

1968,

Soviet

qualified

has

of Trotskyite

Yanov

book

taking

May,

that the United

suggest

Thus

though

perestroika one

figures.

might

on the other

the response

crisis.

Mandel’s

find

class

under

these changes

working

qualified.

led

Beyond Perestroika:

since

in these

has a large

struggle

continuity world

working

class

of systemic

Union

is not to be discarded

of a Soviet

this working

Left,

in today’s

at least

no longer

are but imaginary

the stubborn

revolution

Russian

supply,

and it was a for blame

are not first of all superpowers

for criticism

in the worldwide

Marxism”

Nevertheless, type

point

event search

changes

awakening

and most highly

but as yet it is not highly actors

ofthe

States

absent,

Soviet

the current event

and now the Soviet

to act. It is an evident

largest

book,

he interprets

in the spirit

class has been

changes

international

in

to the party

for glasnost.

Mandel’s

views

in 1949,

namely

Union

working

for more

has begun

Mandel

The

the Soviet

is Ernest

Although

sovietology,

This

treating

at this point

accruing

media

ofglasnost.

victory

217

Even

culpability

big international

itself-a

as the most important

of the Chinese

conventional

system

of literature

USSR.

of the country.

to prevent

was a very

and controversial

Future of Gorbachev’s the Soviet

tried

of, the new policy

of the Soviet

the large

of the most

Toward a Third Generation?

establishment

the authorities

to, as well as evidence

to an indictment

world.

Communism:

the

the third

likely

than

ante

would

the be

is the most likely:

to the Soviets!” will

succeed

in

producing

more

218

STUDIES IN COMPARA~‘IVE COMMUNISM

consolidation

of economic

a great

for the whole

rehef

lutionary

liberalization

transformations

as a “way

oflife,”

world,

and political

no change

in the Eastern

however,

democratization,

in the Soviet

half of Europe

in the Soviet

Union

Union

reversible.

for the coming

which

would

make

the revo-

can The

permanent

years

be

crisis

or decades

cannot

be excluded. The

documentary

Bloc, examines areas

of human

and social

documentary contrast that

evidence

social

“perverse Urban fields.

This

introductory

generation poor,

build

throughout

they

could

This

the

modernization

” in which

favor

general

of industrial

This

form

is why whole

outdated

post-modern may have been

Union,

reinforced

Warsaw This

Treaty latter

in December, and belong

imposed

remain

narrowly

it is about

so

costs

of

obscure

focused

in a theoretical

on

framework. “cannibalistic

and

it has eaten then

19th

redistributed

in

investment

as originally

designed

upon Central

The

building

totally

by Marx

and Eastern

organizations

This

a post-industrial and culture,

and political

by international

completely.

spirit,

toward

as This

as I like to call them.

of turning

on human

up all resources infrastructures.

stopped

century

museums”

by its socio-economic

outside

and

The

but

been

himself.

European

This

countries

structures, like

or which

but was

CMEA

and

the

Organization.

organization

European Relations: volume

the

emphasis

or to a third

regimes?

and human

down,

technological

in these

welfare.

in the late

for socialism

model, was fixed

from

slowed

military

and leaders,

priorities”

hand,

in social

and was instead

its major

the only basis

modernization

by the Soviet

first

“utopian

the situation

concentrated

because

development

“open-air with

social

is cannibalistic

into the 1970s

stage

than

of their

the

among

has the performance

descriptive at

is hidden

regimes

explanation were

became

to promote

understanding

Why

is right

was designed

to improve

is

and that

for the non-existing

and the “perverse

resources

rather

process

process

continued

outdated

explanation

in

is false

wanted

of demonic

is largely

its

problems

of improvement,

of the “communist”

answer

all social

modernization

factories-the

process

promises

areas

in pursuit

a better

unanswered:

for its own further

the

toward

extent

development

production

lead

evocations

of modernization

preconditions

for them

in such

drawing

of this volume

for failure

preparation

It fails to give a general

Nevertheless,

decades

real reason

avoids

volume

in these

on themselves

permanent

Social

conclusion

governments”

The

and decades

sources,

The

the first

it impossible

to a great

fields,

after

years

and employment,

of real socialism

citizens.

up are only a partial

welfare

demonstrated.

imposed

the

made

the volume.

particular

This

unofficial

if this was one of the great

military

also

and

of their

It wisely

the dilemma

official

the “communist

analysis

literature.

housing

is clearly

is more,

argues,

particular

leaves

rights

What

care,

socialism”,

priorities”

objectives”.

as health

both

that

Social and Economic Rights in the Soviet

over the past several

of superiority

accepts

and economic

threats,

rights

of “state

Urban

by G. Urban,

record”

claims

claim

the performance poor.

edited

from

to the official

the ideological

very the

volume

the “communist

contains 1985.

is treated

the papers The

drawn

wing

is demonstrated

European

Relations

in the

Korbonski

examines

continuity

Continuity and Change in Soviet and East by M.

of the conference

conclusion

to the conventional

with this approach

in the volume,

Implications for the West, edited

in these

1980s:

Continuity

and change

the same

papers

of the second

in the opening

Carnovale

under

are mostly

generation chapter

and

Potter.

The

problem

“Soviet-East

by Andrzej

European

C.

held in Rome

commonsensical

literature.

in the volume,

Change,”

in Soviet-East

and W. name

relations

Korbonski. over a 20

Comparative year

period

in an appropriately

generation “more

literature

of the Yalta

in

mid-1980s.

the

continuity

over

claiming hand,

the coming

Moscow

future

in the history

movement reform

from

cycle.

European

system

socialism

the final

the

that

says:

is not unprecedented,

of the previous back

region and hence least

I do not expect

It is never usual

easy

difficulties

relations signs

East

and events of the total

have

nature

of the cumulated The

shows the

“more

then

in the same The novelty

and there

spirit

closing appears

the

by Marco

not as a promise

to the pre-Yalta

Europe,

the

example, situation

in

crises before.

accompanied

by things

systems

in the

years

Eastern

ago,

Europe,

at

internal

resources

routine

generation

Carnovale

literature.

and the question

scholarly

is raised

the

in fact,

Most

analysts

was very comfortable is that

a more

from

and self-fulfilling as it is, reinforcing

nothing have

new

been

for will

written

manner.

are on the “overcoming e.g.

socialism

and the volume,

for it, and so all papers

but as a danger,

analysis

comes

analysis

and this situation

and

although

of state

to live with the East

in a very

political

attention,

attitude

If the “implication” though

the general

of international

on the formal

for the West”

second

East

about

analysis

of the same”

learned

to be prepared

changes,

is not only

without

producing

of the

scientists.

is no need

remarks

have

unchanged

of minor

with

processes and

“more

itself,

principle

political

not

For

critical

changes

conventional

is “Implications

of the book

“predict,”

cycles.

of communist

too much

of external

knowledge

of the same”

the

concentrated

and its experts

theory

the dust had settled

relations

but this case First,

Second,

a fundamentally

politicians

happen,

return

subtitle

that the West

predicted both

noticed.

cycle

that went beyond

in 1988 and that twenty

in Soviet

the socio-economic

exhaustion

might theory.

been

predictions,

and West

of Central

has faced worse

so characteristic

of small the cyclical a ten-year

or small

here

small

and once

the situation

Europe

22).

predictions.

leaving

of

in His

for comparative

period

institutional

Moscow,

changes

(p.

approach

this short

Europe

posits

producing

his colleagues

repetition

by some

from

radical

to make

between

of contacts

But

the region.

characteristic

to the crisis

more

leadership

Eastern

view

on the fact that the current

between

future”

of the

and

Schlamperei,

difference

in the foreseeable

socialism.

was followed

to the normal

. I see little

over

retrenchment, and reliable

to grant

new

on the recurrence

very

this

on the one

of the same.”

This

solid

that,

towards

evidently

for

but he refutes

the

“more

Europe,

and that Eastern

and exhortations

policy i.e.

but the

discernable in the West

Union

that control

in fact,

simple

this prediction

crises

promises

returned

the

“I base

the

the Soviet

was,

Korbonski

Korbonski

appeals,

a very of state

is,

the alliance Each

based

198Os,

sophistication

to change;

other,

course,

and it was even applied

Thus,

past,

forecasting

voices

is near collapse,

tighter

in Central

pattern

crisis

of routine

been

force

to conservative

provided

as a whole.

but

has been

and

until

a matter

future,

continuity

development

countries

became

its present

liberalization

great

have

and that Soviet

continue

of state

This

communism

to happen

with

on the

to impose

of the late

there alternatives

would

and

have

and

was to some extent

vote

in Europe both

Europe

countries,

is likely

would

volume

alliance

or later,

idea of stubborn

cycles

this

refuses

in Eastern

sooner

is that neither

in the near This

dominated

change

changes

doctrine

to Korbonski,

Korbonski

but falls into the trap of second over

the dramatic

in

219

the states.

the Brezhnev

experts

individual

would,

feeling

predicted

According

crisis

to the

approach, continuity

between

and/or

The change.

However,

autonomy

differentiated

have

system

that the Soviet

alternative.

Toward a Third Generation?

overemphasizing

in relations

no one could

erosion

the

by

of the same”

Clearly

Communism:

of Yalta”.

fragmented

whether

Europe

a pre-Yalta

This as a

model

is

STUDIESIN COMPARATIVE COMMUNISM

220 “worth

recovering”

possible

future

alliance-systems. “decline”

The

When

West

In the Middle

they

countries

to be, as Hungary

For reform-oriented

less

part

than

period,

an uncertain

form

of a of the

purposes,

it stopped

and political

future.

the

believing

scientists

in the

felt uneasy

also a neglect these

changes.

As yet,

given

Heinz

can

however,

common

is over.

The

meager

between recent

of the older

any

the Eastern

has brought

of the more

and

lost

to the allegedly

dissimilarities

the influence

long

world have

between

and 1980s

Much

this

and are heading

generalizations

continental as well.

socialist

In

literature

refer

in the 1970s

or even

world

similarities

and

Europe

of Czechoslovakia. all formerly

the communist

for sweeping

and

remembered

changes.

generation

superficial

regimes

Eastern

resist

the biggest

Romania

leaders

invasion

and

and found of nowhere.”

them

to include

about

in second

or China,

of regional

and within

whose

still

NATO

of 1989,

among

in the globalizing

but the time

of “Marxist”

first

1968

which

for some

etc.,

in the “middle

Germany,

of the

e.g.

in-between

in the Autumn

the commonplaces

Union,

ideology

to move

has expanded

as a unity

the Soviet

big regions

East

nowhere

But

by the alliances,

began

own allies,

Albania,

of course

results

their

support

indeed,

expansion

dominated

of nowhere

are,

study ofthe

recognizes

time

did, somewhere

and

and

can hunt

of Europe,

but

only

Europe”

to make.

the “Spring”

from

China

movement

Marxist-Leninist

three

came

enthusiastic

they

communist We

before

this sphere

including

meaning.

as the

for propaganda

some

and 1980s

and Poland

Czechoslovakia

however,

towards world

security

degree

transition

mostly

have

world

in the 1970s

Hungary,

to national

countries,

appears

“well-balanced

its politicians

would

and regulated

themselves

Recently,

past

in the

of Nowhere

arranged

Hungary’s

the

that after

emerged

changes

some

to a lesser

Thus, shocking

has overemphasized,

the WTO,

threat

230).

to the extent

this perspective

the necessary

In this nicely

(p.

it is somewhat

of communism,

decline. about

at all?

and

these

literature

literature

is still

dominant. The

analysis

by

clearly

Communist

Movement,

approach.

He investigates

historically very

precise

really

existed.

declaring

world

supports

Foreward Cornintern whether

and this

historical shows

Through

the

mostly

role

decades overall relative

ever

center

success

many

world

which

environment of communism

movement,

as such,

Timmermann After

of the

movement.

what

Lenin,

extent.

movements,

for all the other

this “ideal” posture War

ikon by in his

Stalin

organized

Carefully

describing

model,

movement

though

of the communist

II became

a source

extent

having

an

but it remained

movement from

the

convincingly

movements,

orders

the

question

only to a limited

world

communist

obeying

a major

It is an open

they existed

the never

Lowenthal

Timmermann

of a unified

the world

World

Richard

thesis. to

army,

and the defensive

challenges

to be a myth.

movement

a model

after

in an

communist

idea appeared

approximated

movement

a world

and

as an

communist

of the World comparative

contradicts

of leader

to this idea,

disciplined

real

of his book

analysis

communist

provided

According and

of the world

communist

The

The Decline of the

conclusion

central

role

book,

exceptions

the main

movement

materialized

periods.

of the Cornintern hostile

the

of the

that as a single

an idea.

this historical communist

claimed

and only in certain

homogeneous

that

Timmermann’s

periods

organizing

namely

rare

course

although

itself,

in his

to the

the major

manner,

title of the book

Timmermann

belongs

should

Moscow.

be as

The

two

only because

of the

movement.

The

also of its failure

as

Comparative Communism: a world

movement.

which

started

Timmermann myth

China

It is evident, for

cohesion

Union

the

achievements” features

of the

revisionism),

practical

those

model

really

The

integrated

China

now?

belonging drive the

the final

A huge

in the

new

was

after

Europe.

The

world

to which

it was, it became

concept

since

Deng

ization

was Eastern

nicely

to power,

opening

or

Europe

disappeared.

Nevertheless,

than

in Eastern

debate,

systemic

their

to concoct

disintegration regimes

movement

was never and

are

middle

in June,

After

the

The

over,

to an “impossi-

movement.

in the

in Central

where

fashionable

scholarly

the

debates

the analysis

of

of state

countries.

Brook,

is

of Ceausescu,

European

by T.

What

of nowhere,

1989, fall

since

but an excellent

moves

The

therefore, exercise

to China.

is an for those

regimes deeper

divergencies

be a false statement Hence

are

historical

volumes

roots

process like

not

valid

for

and antecedents China

condemned will be much

and

could

more

by the really

of the postChina than

Eastern

China

which, liberal-

opposed

and which

new conceptualizations

certainly

between which

European

polity

socio-economic

democratization

and workers,

The

the Central

of the Chinese

between

political

by the students

the democratization Europe.

and

From

structure

in the contradictions

and the world

growing

in China?

in the deep

the world,

has had much The

changes

changes

toward

it would

past.

and

ready

It amounts

events

stopped.

or substitute

post-authoritarian

in the world.

withstanding,

in its

even less so in the 1970s

isolated

Square

cover

and demanded

to the world power”

else

significant

came

“absolute

the West

The

communist

brutally

of production

to this ideological

any

totalitarian

Gorbachev

in China.

leadership

open China

as

for the world

and neo-Stalinist

communist

world

mode

any

are no profound

and

Chinese

by

countries too

against.

is China.

in a unified

the Tiananmen

with

need

interest

there

In

(labelled

misled

and

the post-

latecomer

there

in Moscow.

started

of these

protests

absolute Are

socialist

us with ever less success

too happy

The Asiatic Mode of Production in China edited

view,

for the

the

of any kind

as real

understanding

on its own,

the Asiatic not

course

provide

volume who have

of

particularities

this change

was a fact before

China

country

to itself

does

declarations,

crisis.

democratization

about

and

to strengthen

or to give up the general

and to unity

of comparison

in Timmermann’s

last connection

socialism

national

The

model

literature

movement

to include

only

1970s

results

and to the extent

towards

China’s

West?

to recognize

generation

concern

theorem”

the

and Eastern

before

A central

of the

and this is what Timmermann

in Central

bility

sake

which

were decided camp

It has

homogeneity

around

of socialism

power.

and elsewhere,

“irreversibility

the socialist

to be a

from

and West.

Europe

of the official

the

features

Old methods

meager second

communist

long

meant

to leave

the

for

Failure

overgeneralizations,

198Os,

for

good

actions.

increasingly

collapsed

it

proved

East

mandatory

image

debates,

movement.

was ousted

for both

empire”

use the parlance

to a Soviet-centric

movement. political

of the world

To

empire

movement

in Eastern

an enemy

the

punished.

the claim

cultures.

“external

who wanted

Soviet

myth

communist

the

actions.

external

were

this

really

from

of domination

internal

joined

and Khrushchev useful

221

and

China

of a monolithic

has been

and that the obligatory

of unity,

denounced

the myth

of splits

when

Union

it has provided

and common of

the idea

as an ideology

the West

the spirit

and

that

is a history

1947-1948

in 1964

demanding

To

countries

Is

that

however,

40 years,

history in

split with the Soviet

the Soviet

obedience.

post-war

Yugoslavia

argues

when

served

The

with

Toward a Third Generation?

where

anywhere

Europe

not-

to the prison

of its

complicated

there

The Chinese Communist Party’s Nomenclatura

STUDIES IN COMPARATIVE

222

COMMUNISM

System, A Documentary

Study of Party Control of Leadership Se&ion,

John

very

Burns,

prescription

will

be

useful

as the pre-Yalta, has changed

etc.,

public

but

Union

opinion

predicated

and

on this Europe

“Existing

the

Afghanistan,

“reform

beginning

to surprise

to re-examine social

new “east-west”

by as a

of their science joint

track

deficiencies

of the second generation

record.

(or

Soviet

the

Angola, anyone.

past,

of

leadership

to this

Union

not

analysed

by

debate

not only

impact event

to start

in

on global

were

largely

of Central

and

media

event

as an international

and China

and the

is in itself

excellently

transformations

Chernobyl,

ventures fruits

variety, of the

“experiments”

and Cuba

has collapsed

PCR,

North

are still “out,”

As the post-communist, Eastern

Europe

and

of necessity,

predecessors.

in these

generation,

peoples)

they must,

discredited

The

was

psychological

revolutionary

(such world

socialism”

It had a major

its post-totalitarian

research scholarly

impact

models

but the whole

framework.

regimes their

communist of a third

not

has disappeared,

the nuclear

to the Soviet

jury

communist”

on the performance for serious

The

Ethiopia,

are not likely

global

seen as a political

The

world of “real

re-opened

of the

impact.

at least

Bator.

The

the world.

for the future

post-war

incident

reactions

global

socialism,”

Cambodia, and

but

the use of the previous

of the collapse

event.

new socio-political

to Ulan

verdicts

the bipolar

Chernobyl

have been

a totally

Berlin

The

but all over

and as a warning within

edited

1979-1984,

as a description,

not only the “communist”

as a result

a global

in his book.

Eastern

experts

and this precludes because

recognition,

of Germany

a European

the Soviet

world

concepts)

beyond

(re-)unification Marples

for

or prediction.

We live now in a global

only

reading

countries

bring

to light

socialist”, Union

are

new evidence

endeavor

to the formation

and the reassessment will

help

and will lay the groundwork

of comparative post-communist

Soviet

New data and a new environment are conducive

for the exploration

of this

East Laos,

but their eventual “reform

the

from

Korea,

studies.

remedy

the

of

ofthe factual

for the development