A Discussion of Aviezer Tucker's The Legacies of Totalitarianism: A Theoretical Framework

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 536-537
Author(s):  
Barbara J. Falk
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Public Intellectual ◽  
Scientific Validity ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
The Public ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Post Communism ◽  
The 1960S

The concept of totalitarianism emerged between the two world wars in twentieth-century Europe to become a central concept of Cold War social science designed to highlight similarities between the Nazi and Soviet regimes and implicitly to contrast these forms of dictatorship with liberal democracy. While in the 1960s and 1970s many critics challenged the concept’s Cold War uses as an ideology of “the West,” the idea of totalitarianism and later “post-totalitarianism” played important roles in East Central Europe, where they helped dissident intellectuals, academics, and activists both to understand and to challenge Soviet-style communism. The concept of “totalitarianism” remains heavily contested. But whatever one thinks about the concept’s social scientific validity, there can be no doubt that it played a crucial role in both the scholarship of communism and the public intellectual debates about the possibilities of post-communism. Aviezer Tucker’s The Legacies of Totalitarianism: A Theoretical Framework (Cambridge 2015) addresses many of these issues, and so we have invited a range of political scientists to comment on the book and the broader theme denoted by its title.

A Discussion of Aviezer Tucker's The Legacies of Totalitarianism: A Theoretical Framework

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 535-535
Author(s):  
Valerie Bunce
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Public Intellectual ◽  
Scientific Validity ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
The Public ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Post Communism ◽  
The 1960S

The concept of totalitarianism emerged between the two world wars in twentieth-century Europe to become a central concept of Cold War social science designed to highlight similarities between the Nazi and Soviet regimes and implicitly to contrast these forms of dictatorship with liberal democracy. While in the 1960s and 1970s many critics challenged the concept’s Cold War uses as an ideology of “the West,” the idea of totalitarianism and later “post-totalitarianism” played important roles in East Central Europe, where they helped dissident intellectuals, academics, and activists both to understand and to challenge Soviet-style communism. The concept of “totalitarianism” remains heavily contested. But whatever one thinks about the concept’s social scientific validity, there can be no doubt that it played a crucial role in both the scholarship of communism and the public intellectual debates about the possibilities of post-communism. Aviezer Tucker’s The Legacies of Totalitarianism: A Theoretical Framework (Cambridge 2015) addresses many of these issues, and so we have invited a range of political scientists to comment on the book and the broader theme denoted by its title.

A Discussion of Aviezer Tucker's The Legacies of Totalitarianism: A Theoretical Framework

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 533-534
Author(s):  
András Bozóki
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Public Intellectual ◽  
Scientific Validity ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
The Public ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Post Communism ◽  
The 1960S

The concept of totalitarianism emerged between the two world wars in twentieth-century Europe to become a central concept of Cold War social science designed to highlight similarities between the Nazi and Soviet regimes and implicitly to contrast these forms of dictatorship with liberal democracy. While in the 1960s and 1970s many critics challenged the concept’s Cold War uses as an ideology of “the West,” the idea of totalitarianism and later “post-totalitarianism” played important roles in East Central Europe, where they helped dissident intellectuals, academics, and activists both to understand and to challenge Soviet-style communism. The concept of “totalitarianism” remains heavily contested. But whatever one thinks about the concept’s social scientific validity, there can be no doubt that it played a crucial role in both the scholarship of communism and the public intellectual debates about the possibilities of post-communism. Aviezer Tucker’s The Legacies of Totalitarianism: A Theoretical Framework (Cambridge 2015) addresses many of these issues, and so we have invited a range of political scientists to comment on the book and the broader theme denoted by its title.

A Discussion of Aviezer Tucker's The Legacies of Totalitarianism: A Theoretical Framework

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 540-541
Author(s):  
Michael H. Bernhard
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Public Intellectual ◽  
Scientific Validity ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
The Public ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Post Communism ◽  
The 1960S

The concept of totalitarianism emerged between the two world wars in twentieth-century Europe to become a central concept of Cold War social science designed to highlight similarities between the Nazi and Soviet regimes and implicitly to contrast these forms of dictatorship with liberal democracy. While in the 1960s and 1970s many critics challenged the concept’s Cold War uses as an ideology of “the West,” the idea of totalitarianism and later “post-totalitarianism” played important roles in East Central Europe, where they helped dissident intellectuals, academics, and activists both to understand and to challenge Soviet-style communism. The concept of “totalitarianism” remains heavily contested. But whatever one thinks about the concept’s social scientific validity, there can be no doubt that it played a crucial role in both the scholarship of communism and the public intellectual debates about the possibilities of post-communism. Aviezer Tucker’s The Legacies of Totalitarianism: A Theoretical Framework (Cambridge 2015) addresses many of these issues, and so we have invited a range of political scientists to comment on the book and the broader theme denoted by its title.

A Discussion of Aviezer Tucker's The Legacies of Totalitarianism: A Theoretical Framework

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 538-539
Author(s):  
Vladimir Tismăneanu
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Public Intellectual ◽  
Scientific Validity ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
The Public ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Post Communism ◽  
The 1960S

The concept of totalitarianism emerged between the two world wars in twentieth-century Europe to become a central concept of Cold War social science designed to highlight similarities between the Nazi and Soviet regimes and implicitly to contrast these forms of dictatorship with liberal democracy. While in the 1960s and 1970s many critics challenged the concept’s Cold War uses as an ideology of “the West,” the idea of totalitarianism and later “post-totalitarianism” played important roles in East Central Europe, where they helped dissident intellectuals, academics, and activists both to understand and to challenge Soviet-style communism. The concept of “totalitarianism” remains heavily contested. But whatever one thinks about the concept’s social scientific validity, there can be no doubt that it played a crucial role in both the scholarship of communism and the public intellectual debates about the possibilities of post-communism. Aviezer Tucker’s The Legacies of Totalitarianism: A Theoretical Framework (Cambridge 2015) addresses many of these issues, and so we have invited a range of political scientists to comment on the book and the broader theme denoted by its title.

scholarly journals Kekkonen vallankäyttäjänä ja vallankäytön välineenä. Urho Kekkosen historiakuva Helsingin Sanomien 1960-lukuviittauksissa

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olli Seuri
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Private Life ◽  
Daily Newspaper ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
History Of ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Progressive Force ◽  
Historical References

Kekkonen and Power. The Image of Urho Kekkonen in Helsingin Sanomat’s References to the 1960s This article explores the history of President Urho Kekkonen as it appeared in the pages of daily newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat (HS). His history is produced in different sections and historical references in every-day work of a newspaper. Separate pieces of representations produced by writers, editors and interviewees construct the image which is as much about representing and remembering as it is about forgetting and omitting. This article’s material is limited to references to the 1960s in the HS’s volumes of 2008 and 2013. The sample is limited in order to analyse the idea of “different types of Kekkonen” in Finnish history culture. This study shows that the image of Kekkonen constructed in these references to 1960s is that of a powerful president. For example, young Kekkonen, Prime Minister Kekkonen, and the frail President after 25 years reign, are all omitted. Representations and meanings in these newspaper references are limited to Kekkonen, his legacy, and influence in public and private life in the 1960s and 1970s. In this study’s material Kekkonen is a progressive force in the modernization period of the 1960s Finland. Also, the legacy of Kekkonen and his foreign policy are strong in HS’s references. The debate concerning Cold War shows the dynamism of the image of the past of President Urho Kekkonen and his lasting relevance to Finnish history culture. His legacy and history can be used for various lines of argument. Different emphasis leads to different, even opposing, views and visions. The public debate over Cold War and Kekkonen represents a broader aspect, noticed earlier by historian Henrik Meinander (2010): The debate concerning the legacy of President Urho Kekkonen is a debate of Cold War Finland and Finland’s position between the East and the West.Kekkonen vallankäyttäjänä ja vallankäytön välineenä. Urho Kekkosen historiakuva Helsingin Sanomien 1960-lukuviittauksissa  Artikkelissa selvitetään, millainen historiakuva presidentti Urho Kekkosesta muodostuu Helsingin Sanomien (HS) 1960-lukuviittauksista vuosien 2008 ja 2013 lehdissä. Sanomalehden tuottama historiakuva syntyy päivä päivältä lehden eri osastoissa historiaa koskevissa jutuissa ja historiaviittauksissa. Kekkosen historiakuva on yksittäisistä paloista rakentuva, valikoitu esitys siitä, mikä Kekkosessa on vielä 2000-luvulla merkityksellistä. Se kertoo sekä HS:n valinnoista että suomalaisesta historiakulttuurista.HS:ssa 1960-lukuviittauksista muodostuu kuva Urho Kekkosesta presidenttinä ja vallankäyttäjänä. Otoksen rajaus nostaa esiin erityisesti Torstin (2012) määrittelemän ” 1960-luvun ja kuulentojen sukupolven” Kekkosen. Viittauksissa painottuvat modernisoituva 1960-luvun Suomi sekä 1960–1970-lukujen lännen ja idän välillä tasapainotellut kylmän sodan Suomi. Historiakuvan rakentuminen perustuu aina valintoihin ja historian käyttöön eli muistamisen ohella rajaamiseen ja unohtamiseen. HS:n 1960-lukuviittauksissa ei ole nuorta Kekkosta, ei pääministeri Kekkosta eikä sairauden vuoksi valtaoikeuksistaan luopuvaa Kekkosta. Jäljelle jää vahva vaikuttaja, jonka elämäntyötä arvioidaan niin henkilökohtaisen kuin julkisenkin kautta. Kekkosen merkitys HS:ssa ja suomalaisessa historiakulttuurissa näkyy hänen presidenttiajan perinnössään mutta myös siinä, kuinka hänen perintöään arvioidaan yhä uudelleen. Kekkosen historiakuvaan liittyvä poliittinen ulottuvuus paljastuu etenkin niissä tapauksissa, joissa Kekkosta tai häneen liitettyjä merkityksiä käytetään erilaisten argumenttien tukena. Erilaisilla painotuksilla Kekkonen taipuu HS:ssa erilaisiin asentoihin. Kuten Meinander (2010) on huomioinut, on keskustelu Kekkosesta myös keskustelua kylmän sodan Suomesta ja Suomen paikasta idän ja lännen välissä.

Mind Bending, Mental Seduction and Menticide: Brainwashing in British Spy Dramas of the 1960s

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Burton
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Thought Control ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Scientific Background ◽  
Mind Control ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Cultural Fantasy

Brainwashing assumed the proportions of a cultural fantasy during the Cold War period. The article examines the various political, scientific and cultural contexts of brainwashing, and proceeds to a consideration of the place of mind control in British spy dramas made for cinema and television in the 1960s and 1970s. Particular attention is given to the films The Mind Benders (1963) and The Ipcress File (1965), and to the television dramas Man in a Suitcase (1967–8), The Prisoner (1967–8) and Callan (1967–81), which gave expression to the anxieties surrounding thought-control. Attention is given to the scientific background to the representations of brainwashing, and the significance of spy scandals, treasons and treacheries as a distinct context to the appearance of brainwashing on British screens.

Sweden, Europe, and the Cold War: A Reappraisal

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 68-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aryo Makko
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Third World ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Soviet Bloc ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Third Way ◽  
Democratic Socialism ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Cold War

Traditionally, Sweden has been portrayed as an active bridge-builder in international politics in the 1960s and 1970s. The country advocated a “third way” toward democratic socialism and greater “justice” in international affairs, but these foreign policy prescriptions were never applied to European affairs. This article examines Sweden's relations with Europe by contrasting European integration with the Cold War. Negotiations on Swedish membership in the European Communities and Swedish policy at the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe were influenced by a general Berührungsangst toward Europe, which persisted during the years of détente. Because Swedish decision-makers believed that heavy involvement in European affairs would constrict Sweden's freedom of action, Swedish leaders' moral proclamations were applied exclusively to distant Third World countries rather than the egregious abuses of human rights in the Soviet bloc.

“This Room is Yours, Personal!”: The Rise and Fall of Middle-Class Decoration Expertise in the Bedrooms of America’s Teens, 1900–1985

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-129
Author(s):  
Jason Reid
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Room Design ◽  
Do It Yourself ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Cold War

This article also examines how the decline of teen-oriented room décor expertise reflected significant changes in the way gender and class influenced teen room culture during the tail end of the Cold War. Earlier teen décor strategies were often aimed towards affluent women; by contrast, the child-centric, do-it-yourself approach, as an informal, inexpensive alternative, was better suited to grant boys and working class teens from both sexes a greater role in the room design discourse. This article evaluates how middle-class home décor experts during the early decades of the twentieth century re-envisioned the teen bedroom as a space that was to be designed and maintained almost exclusively by teens rather than parents. However, many of the experts who formulated this advice would eventually become victims of their own success. By the 1960s and 1970s, teens were expected to have near total control over their bedrooms, which, in turn, challenged the validity of top-down forms of expertise.

Mass Immunization in East Asia and Global Health, 1960–80

2019 ◽  
pp. 144-165
Author(s):  
Mary Augusta Brazelton
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Rural Health ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Mass Immunization ◽  
The Republic ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter investigates the role of mass immunization in Chinese medical diplomacy programs during the 1960s and 1970s. While most scholarship has stressed the influence of barefoot doctor and other paraprofessional training programs in the emergence of the People's Republic of China (PRC) as a global model for rural health services, mass immunization programs in China had measurable results—in terms of lowered incidence of disease—that helped legitimize these training efforts and the nation's program of rural health care more broadly. Ultimately, the global popularization of Chinese public health was a consequence of regional competition within East Asia. During the Cold War era, the PRC used medical aid to foreign countries to compete for power and influence with the Republic of China on Taiwan, where institutions and personnel that the Nationalist Party brought to the island after 1948 built upon practices established during the period of Japanese colonial rule (1895–1945). The involvement of Taiwan in medical diplomacy reflected the expansionist agendas of its Western allies in the Cold War as well as competition with the PRC for recognition as the legitimate government of mainland China.

Democratic Fantasies vs. Cold War Realities

2018 ◽  
pp. 131-146
Author(s):  
Laurence R. Jurdem
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
White House ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
National Review ◽  
The World ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Cold War

The strain of Black Nationalism that existed within the United Nations also worried conservatives as they monitored the evolution of events in Southern Africa. In their intense desire to rid the world of communism, other issues, such as race, were either marginalized or ignored. The chapter analyzes the three publications’ view of race as it relates to the issue of Rhodesia during the height of the Cold War. In ignoring the suppression of an entire race of people, Human Events and National Review contrasted what they perceived to be a stable, anticommunist, biracial society with the militarism and lawlessness that they argued defined the 1960s and 1970s. While the two conservative publications viewed Rhodesia as a model of biracial success, Commentary focused on the Carter administration’s dismissive attitude about the dangers of Soviet encroachment within the African hemisphere. The Right argued that the Carter White House, in its refusal to endorse Rhodesia’s 1979 parliamentary elections due to a lack of representation of militant nationalist groups, and its belief in the policy of détente, continued to send a message of American weakness and indifference to totalitarianism around the world.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document