Toward a Critique of Post-Communist Reason - APOV50440

• Title: Toward a Critique of Post-Communist Reason
• Guaranteed by: Institute of Political Science (21-UPOL)
• Faculty: Faculty of Arts
• Actual: from 2023
• Semester: winter
• Points: 4
• E-Credits: 4
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:0/2, C [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / 25 (30)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Joseph Grim Feinberg, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): Joseph Grim Feinberg, Ph.D.

Annotation

Last update: Mgr. Adéla Rádková, Ph.D. (18.09.2023)

In the years following the Communist Party’s loss of monopoly power in Central and Eastern Europe, a new social, political, and cultural order came into being, known colloquially as “post-socialism” or “post-communism.” Entirely new ways of organizing the economy, political power, and expressive culture not only became dominant, but came to appear natural, unquestionable, justified by the apparent impossibility or illegitimacy of doing things any other way. Eventually the homogeneity of legitimate approaches began to break down, and some commentators have suggested that the post-communist period had already ended, giving way to something new. But the post-communist legacy continues to affect our present, and the types of thought cultivated by post-communism continue to influence contemporary society and politics. In this course we will examine and problematize some of those types of thought – the tenets of what I’ve called “post-communist reason” – as we attempt to understand the phenomenon of post-communism and the open question of what comes after it.

Course completion requirements

Last update: Mgr. Adéla Rádková, Ph.D. (18.09.2023)

• Regular attendance in class and demonstrated understanding of assigned readings.
• One class presentation. Each student will be assigned a reading to discuss in class, in about 10–15 mins. Come with questions meant to spur class discussion. I am not looking for a mere summary of the content of assigned readings. I am looking for you to take positions on what you’ve read: analyze, interpret, and possibly criticize the readings. Tell us something we might not have thought of, or take a position we might not agree with, and tell why your position is justified. Students presenting on the same day should coordinate their presentations.
• One final paper (max. 5 pages / ca. 1,500 words / ca. 10,000 characters). Select one reading other than the one assigned for your class presentation, and interpret this reading in light of one of the course’s main themes. You’re encouraged to bring in other class readings as well. As with your class presentation, I am interested in arguments, not summaries. Due Jan. 12 via email (extensions permitted on a case-by-case basis). 

Syllabus

Last update: Mgr. Adéla Rádková, Ph.D. (18.09.2023)

Week 1 (3. 10. 2023) The End of Post-Communism?

Optional reading: Vojtěch Šeliga, “S prohrou Babiše skončí postkomunismus, řekl Lacina. Juchelka se mu vysmál do obličeje” (https://cnn.iprima.cz/prohra-babise-bude-konec-postkomunismu-rika-lacina-jako-zeman-a-klaus-ma-vazby-na-rusko-193474) This short article is only optional, for Czech readers. In class we’ll discuss the article’s content.

 

Week 2 (10. 10.) Yet Another Light that Failed?

Reading: Selections from Ivan Krastev and Stephen Holmes, The Light That Failed: A Reckoning

 

Week 3 (17. 10.) The End of History I

            Reading: Selections from Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man

 

Week 4 (24. 10.) The End of History II

Reading: Prozorov, The Ethics of Postcommunism, ch. 1, “Universal Postcommunism: Kojève and Agamben”

 

Week 5 (31. 10.) The Grand New Idea I: Civil Society

            Reading: Ernest Gellner, Conditions of Liberty, chs. 1, 24, and 28

 

Week 6 (31. 10.) The Grand New Idea II: Moral (Anti-)Politics

Reading: Selections from Václav Havel, The Art of the Impossible: Politics as Morality in Practice

 

Week 7 (7. 11.) The Other Side of Civil Society

Reading: Veronika Stoyanova, “The Concept of Civil Society during the ‘Transition’”

 

Week 8 (14. 11.) The Other Side of Morality

Reading: Georgi Medarov, “The Roots of the Moralization of Politics in Post-1989 Bulgaria and What It Means for the Left”

 

Week 9 (21. 11.) The Wild East and the Ideal of “Transition”

            Reading: Selections from Lea Ypi, Free

 

Week 10 (28. 11.) The Political Economy of Shock Therapy

Reading: Ghodsee and Orenstein, Taking Stock of Shock, ch. 4, “Counternarratives of Catastrophe”

 

Week 11 (5. 12.) Old Elites, New Elites

Reading: Eyal, et al., Making Capitalism without Capitalists, ch. 2, “The Second Bildungsbürgertum”

 

Week 12 (12. 12.) The East Needs Help

Reading: Boris Buden, “Children of Postcommunism” Note: For readers of German, Buden’s full book was originally published as Die Zone des Übergangs: Vom Ende des Postkommunismus. For readers of Czech, the book has been translated as Konec postkomunismu?

 

Week 13 (19. 12.) The East Still Isn’t West

            Reading: Selections from Ivan Kalmar, White but Not Quite

 

Week 14 (9. 1. 2024): Informal meeting

No reading this week. We’ll meet after hours for an open discussion (time and place TBA)