1989 and After: Morality and Truth in Postcommunist Societies

Nations that endured communist dictatorships must come to terms with the traumas of the past before durable democracies can take hold—a lesson the author learned firsthand in Romania.

Governing “Transition”

Even though the changes in governance arrangements of postcommunist countries have received considerable attention from the observers of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region, “transition” as the prevailing paradigm for governing postcommunist societies has rarely been questioned. More than 20 years, it has served as the guiding framework for thinking about and practicing postsocialist transformation. By using Estonia as a critical case among the CEE countries, this research employs Foucauldian discourse analysis and deconstructive reading for exploring how public administration has been constituted by governing postcommunist change as “transition” and the limitations of, and the alternatives to, this approach.

Nostalgia for the Demise of the ussr in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine

A quarter of a century after the collapse of the Soviet Union, its demise still has ramifications for public opinion across the postcommunist world. Using surveys conducted in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, we show that nostalgia for communism is both widespread and persistent. Across all three countries, nostalgia is concentrated among the old and less well-off and, not surprisingly, among those with Communist Party connections. Social networks and travel to other countries is relatively unimportant in shaping views of the communist past. However, despite these widespread feelings of nostalgia, they have implications for contemporary political opinions only in Belarus. Overall, the results suggest that regret for the demise of the Soviet Union will remain in postcommunist societies for some time.