Communist nostalgia

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Communist nostalgia, also called Communism nostalgia or socialist nostalgia, is the nostalgia in various post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia for the prior Communist states.[1][2][3]

Examples of such nostalgia can be observed in East Germany, Poland, the former Soviet Union, former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania,[4][5][6][7] the Czech Republic and Slovakia.[8] Communist Nostalgia has been addressed by some businesses by introducing communist fashion or commodities.[8] (so-called communist chic).

Reasons[]

Dominik Bartmanski argues that after the anti-communist revolutions of 1989 the specific perspectives of the development remained unclear for some time, they were expressed in generic terms such as "return to Europe", "to Western values" and the like. This resulted in utopian expectations regarding capitalism and democracy. When confronted with the hardships of the transition, the "post-revolutionary utopianism" produced "post-revolutionary disenchantment".[3]

According to Kristen R. Ghodsee, a researcher on post-communist Eastern Europe:

"Only by examining how the quotidian aspects of daily life were affected by great social, political and economic changes can we make sense of the desire for this collectively imagined, more egalitarian past. Nobody wants to revive 20th century totalitarianism. But nostalgia for communism has become a common language through which ordinary men and women express disappointment with the shortcomings of parliamentary democracy and neoliberal capitalism today."[9]

Polling[]

Hungary[]

In a 2010 pew poll, found that 72% of Hungarians say that most people in their country are actually worse off today economically than they were under communism. Only 8% say most people in Hungary are better off, and 16% say things are about the same. also in the poll found that 42% disapprove of the move away from communism.[10]

Slovakia[]

In A 2018 Poll in Slovakia found that 81%, agreed that people helped each other more during communism, were more sympathetic and closer to each other. 79 percent asserted that people lived in a safer environment during socialism and that violent crimes were less frequent. Another 77 percent claimed that thanks to the planned economy, there was enough useful work for all and therefore no unemployment.[11]

Romania[]

In a 2014 poll found, 44.4% of the respondents believed that living conditions were better under communism. In a 2010 poll conducted by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy provided similar results. Of the 1,460 respondents, 54 percent claimed that they had better living standards during communism, while 16 percent said that they were worse.[12]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Joakim Ekman, Jonas Linde, Communist nostalgia and the consolidation of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe,  Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics 21(3):354-374 · September 2005 doi:10.1080/13523270500183512
  2. ^ Monika Prusik, Maria Lewicka, Nostalgia for Communist Times and Autobiographical Memory: Negative Present or Positive Past?, Political Psychology, Volume 37, Issue 5 October 2016 doi:10.1111/pops.12330
  3. ^ a b Bartmanski, Dominik, Successful icons of failed time: rethinking post-communist nostalgia, Acta sociologica, vol. 54. № 3. 2011, pp. 213—231, doi:10.1177/0001699311412625.
  4. ^ Anghel, Stefan Costin (June 3, 2014). "Would Romanians Vote for Ceaușescu If He Were Alive Today?". Vice. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  5. ^ Ghodsee, Kristen; Mead, Julia (2018). "What Has Socialism Ever Done For Women?" (PDF). Catalyst. 2 (2): 108. Retrieved January 19, 2019. A 2013 poll of 1,055 adult Romanians found that only a third reported that their lives were worse before 1989: 44 percent said their lives were better, and 16 percent said there was no change.
  6. ^ Maria Todorova, Zsuzsa Gille, Post-communist nostalgia, Berghahn Books, 2010 (ISBN 978-1-84545-671-9, hardcover), 2012 (ISBN 978-0-85745-643-4, paperback), 2013 (ISBN 978-0-85745-644-1)
  7. ^ Besliu, Raluca (April 13, 2014). "Communist nostalgia in Romania". openDemocracy. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Thanks for the memories". The Economist. June 9, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  9. ^ "Dr. Kristen Ghodsee, Bowdoin College - Nostalgia for Communism". November 2011. "Academic Minute", WAMC
  10. ^ "Hungary: Better off Under Communism?".
  11. ^ "Poll: People are nostalgic about communism". 26 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Communist nostalgia in Romania".

Further reading[]

  • REBECCA McKEE, ERICA RICHARDSON, BAYARD ROBERTS, CHRISTIAN HAERPFER and MARTIN McKEE, "Things Can Only Get Better? Changing Views of the Past, Present and Future in the Former Soviet Union", Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 65, No. 7, 2013, pp. 1466-1478, JSTOR 24534205
    From the abstract: "We report new analyses from eight former Soviet republics, and from two surveys, in 2001 and 2010, comparing attitudes to government in the Soviet period and at the time of the surveys, as well as expectations for the future. Everywhere, views of the past have become less positive and those of the present more positive. However, both the views in each survey and the change between each of them vary among countries and socio-demographic groups."
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