Capitalism after communism: The triumph of neoliberalism, nationalist reaction and waiting for the leftist wave

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Żuk ◽  
Jan Toporowski
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Jel Codes ◽  
Neoliberal Capitalism ◽  
Real Socialism ◽  
The 2008 Financial Crisis ◽  
Migration Crisis

Was neoliberal capitalism the only possible development path in Eastern Europe after the collapse of real socialism? How did the restoration of capitalism in the former Eastern bloc affect the economic and political situation in the world? Is the support of workers and lower classes for right-wing populists that has been observed in Eastern Europe for the past 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall a permanent phenomenon? By asking these questions, the authors point out that the offensive of the far right began in Europe before the 2015 migration crisis and the 2008 financial crisis, and that it coincided with the weakening of leftist workers’ parties. This process began in the 1990s after the collapse of the Eastern bloc. What can stop this process and change the situation? The solution is to show that another model is still possible: greater egalitarianism, democracy and the rule of law. This sociopolitical alternative, however, must simultaneously oppose two powerful forces: neoliberal capitalism and nationalist populism. JEL Codes: B50, P30, P34, P36

scholarly journals Review of The Extreme Gone Mainstream

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nga Than
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Youth Culture ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Far Right ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
The Right

The Extreme Gone Mainstream: Commercialization and Far Right Youth Culture in Germany investigates the transformation of fashion among German youth who are in and around the far-right scene. Specifically, Cynthia Miller-Idriss examines how skinhead style went out of fashion only to be replaced by high quality commercial products that feature xenophobic symbols and references. The clothing styles are new points for youth to enter the right-wing scene. Following the recent migration crisis and the increased popularity of right-wing political parties, youth extremism has become the focus of intense public attention and political scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic. This book is a timely contribution to scholarly and public policy debates about the rise of right-wing populism and the appeal of youth extremism.

Post-COVID era could be better for European populists

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Crisis Period ◽  
Strong Position ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Migration Crisis

Significance This left little room for politicisation by parties to engage public opinion. However, support for such parties is stable compared to pre-pandemic levels, suggesting they are well-positioned to benefit in the post-crisis period. Impacts Centrists will try to ensure that the Taliban victory in Afghanistan does not lead to a fresh migration crisis that boosts populists. Following Brexit and the creation of the European recovery fund, Euroscepticism may become less of a feature of right-wing populism. Based on current polling, the far-right Brothers of Italy are in a strong position to lead Italy’s next government.

Eastern Europe

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd Stöver
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
World War ◽  
East Central ◽  
World War 2 ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter examines the role and experience of Eastern Europe in the Cold War. It explains that the history of East Central Europe's Cold War began with the gradual dissolution of the anti-Hitler coalition at the end of World War 2 and that the transition to the officially declared Cold War was accompanied by various official statements. The chapter describes how the Cold War escalated with the Eastern bloc uprisings between 1953 and 1956, and argues that the construction of the Berlin Wall represented the main watershed in the history of the Eastern bloc as well as in the evolution of the Cold War.

scholarly journals Explaining Access to Citizenship in Central and Eastern Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 27-50
Author(s):  
Vainius Bartasevičius
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Minority Populations ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Eastern European Countries

Against the backdrop of international migration and the rise of right-wing populism, debates on citizenship policies intensified. This article seeks to explain why some Central and Eastern European countries adopted more inclusive access to nationality rules for non-ethnic immigrants than others. Encompassing the period from 1990 to 2014, the analysis focuses on four factors: left–right ideological position of governments, electoral strength of far-right parties, the size of expatriate/kin minority populations, and the importance of national minority issues. Using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, the article found that strong far-right parties, important national minority issues, and sizable expatriate/kin minority populations all contributed to restrictive citizenship policies in Central and Eastern Europe. However, none of these factors were necessary or sufficient. Meanwhile, inclusive access to nationality rules were adopted in those countries where far-right parties failed to register important electoral successes and national minority issues were relatively insignificant.

scholarly journals Distinguishing "anti-Judaism" from "anti-Semitism": Recent championing of Serbian Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic

Sociologija ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jovan Byford
Keyword(s):  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Orthodox Christian ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
Historical Figures ◽  
The Way

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the continuity in the ideology of the Eastern European far right has been apparent in the extent to which the restoration of right-wing ideas was accompanied with widespread rewriting of history and the rehabilitation of contentious historical figures, many of whom, 40 years earlier, had attained notoriety for their antisemitism and fascist and pro-Nazi leanings. This article examines a specific example of postcommunist revisionism in Serbian society. The principal aim of the article is to explore the rhetoric of Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic (1880 - 1956), a controversial Serbian Orthodox Christian philosopher whose writing includes overtly antisemitic passages, and elucidate the strategies that his supporters have been deploying to promote him and maintain his popularity while countering objections of antisemitism. The paper focuses on the way in which the controversy surrounding Velimirovic?s antisemitism was managed around the time of his formal canonisation in May 2003. The author argues that unlike the Roman Catholic and Protestant Christian denominations, eastern churches, including the Serbian Orthodox Church, have as yet not formally addressed from a doctrinal or ecclesiological perspective the problem of Christian antisemitism. Due to the unwavering traditionalism justifications and denials of antisemitism must be constructed in such a way that they present the bishop?s views as consistent with the prevailing secular norms of ethnic tolerance.

scholarly journals Granice w wizji politycznej współczesnej skrajnej prawicy w Niemczech

Politeja ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1(58)) ◽  
pp. 211-227
Author(s):  
Agata Kałabunowska
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Extreme Right ◽  
Far Right ◽  
The Core ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The World ◽  
Migration Crisis

Borders in the Political Vision of Contemporary Extreme Right in Germany The article deals with the issue of broadly defined borders in political and ideological programmes of selected extreme right organisations in contemporary Germany (AfD, NPD, IBD). The starting point for the textual and content analysis of actual programs of these organizations is the author’s reflection on the importance of dichotomy in the broader political view of the extreme right. The author claims that the considerably strong focus of the selected right‑wing organisations on the issue of physical or cultural borders does not only derive from the timing of their activism – the so called migration crisis. It is rather pre‑defined by the ideological features of the far right in general. The core ideological elements ascribed to the far right as a stream of political thought, such as nationalism or authoritarianism, are based on the dichotomy and influence on the far right perception of the world.

Debt and crisis: Socio-economic critique of neoliberal transformation in Poland

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Przemysław Pluciński
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Debt ◽  
Shock Therapy ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Jel Codes ◽  
Central Eastern Europe ◽  
The Social ◽  
Real Socialism ◽  
Rent Theory

The article offers an analysis of the processes of neoliberal transformation, or the transition from ‘real socialism’ to ‘real capitalism’, which took place roughly three decades ago in Central-Eastern Europe, with particular consideration given to Poland. The key to a sociological understanding of capitalist modernisation is the combination of two perspectives present in social sciences: analysis in terms of shock therapy and the prospect of debt. Referring to the concepts of the ‘rent theory of ownership’, the role of foreign debt, creditor–debtor relations and the resulting crisis are submitted to analysis as the key factors of modernisation. Finally, the social, political and cultural consequences of the neoliberal transformation are also considered. These are argued to be growing right-wing populist and authoritarian tendencies. JEL Codes: B51, E65, H63, P26

Magic and Politics

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 5-14
Author(s):  
Sabina Magliocco
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
The United States ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Cultural Expression ◽  
Spirit World

This essay introduces a special issue of Nova Religio on magic and politics in the United States in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election. The articles in this issue address a gap in the literature examining intersections of religion, magic, and politics in contemporary North America. They approach political magic as an essentially religious phenomenon, in that it deals with the spirit world and attempts to motivate human behavior through the use of symbols. Covering a range of practices from the far right to the far left, the articles argue against prevailing scholarly treatments of the use of esoteric technologies as a predominantly right-wing phenomenon, showing how they have also been operationalized by the left in recent history. They showcase the creativity of magic as a form of human cultural expression, and demonstrate how magic coexists with rationality in contemporary western settings.

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