Post-communism

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This article is about the economic and political transformations that occurred in certain countries as a result of the fall of their communist governments. For the academic study of the contemporary status of these countries, see Postsocialism. For the political philosophy that reinterprets Marxism, see Post-Marxism.

Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in post-Soviet states and other formerly communist states located in Central-Eastern Europe and parts of Latin America, Africa, and Asia, in which new governments aimed to create free market-oriented capitalist economies. In 1989–1992, communist party governance collapsed in most communist party-governed states. After severe hardships communist parties retained control in China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. SFR Yugoslavia began to disintegrate, which plunged the country into a long complex series of wars between ethnic groups and nation-states. Soviet-oriented communist movements collapsed in countries where they were not in control.[1][2]

Politics

Further information: History of communism § Contemporary communism (1993–present)

The policies of most communist parties in both the Eastern and Western Blocs had been governed by the example of the Soviet Union. In most countries in the Eastern Bloc, following the Revolutions of 1989 and the fall of communist-led governments that marked the end of the Cold War, the communist parties split in two factions: a reformist social democratic party and a new less reformist-oriented communist party. The newly created social democratic parties were generally larger and more powerful than the remaining communist parties—only in Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, and Tajikistan the communist parties remained a significant force.[3][4]

In the Western Bloc, many of the self-styled communist parties reacted by changing their policies to a more moderate and less radical course. In countries such as Italy and reunited Germany, post-communism is marked by the increased influence of their existing social democrats. The anti-Soviet communist parties in the Western Bloc (e.g. the Trotskyist parties) who felt that the dissolution of the Soviet Union vindicated their views and predictions did not particularly prosper from it—in fact, some became less radical as well.

Economy

Several communist states had undergone economic reforms from a planned economy towards a more market-oriented economy in the 1980s, notably Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. The post-communist economic transition was much more abrupt and aimed at creating fully capitalist economies.[5]

All the countries concerned have abandoned the traditional tools of communist economic control and moved more or less successfully toward free-market systems.

2009 recession, except for Poland, which was one of two countries (the other was Albania
) in Europe maintained growth despite the worldwide recession.

Armenia's economy, like that of other former states of Soviet Union, suffered from the consequences of a centrally-planned economy and the collapse of former Soviet trade patterns. Another important aspect for difficulty of standing up after the collapse is that the investment and funding that was coming to Armenian industry from Soviet Union has been gone, leaving only a few large enterprises in operation. Furthermore, the aftereffects of the 1988 Armenian earthquake were still being felt. Despite the fact that a cease-fire has been in place since 1994, the dispute with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has not been resolved. Since Armenia was heavily dependent on outside supplies of energy and most raw materials at that time, the resulting closure of both the Azerbaijani and Turkish borders has devastated the economy. During 1992–1993, the GDP had dropped around 60% from its peak in 1989. Few years after adoption of national currency, the dram in 1993, it experienced hyperinflation.[7]

As of 2021, most post-communist countries in Europe are generally seen to have

socialized in that context, resulting in a great deal of continuing tension in organizations in post-communist states.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ David Priestland, The Red Flag: A History of Communism (Grove, 2009) pp 346–353.
  2. ^ Robert Service, Comrades: A World History of Communism (2007) pp. 459–460,
  3. ^ David Ost, "The politics of interest in post-communist East Europe." Theory and Society 22.4 (1993): 453-485. online Archived 2021-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Gregory Gleason, Markets and politics in Central Asia (Routledge, 2003).
  5. ^ Charles King, "Post-Postcommunism: Transition, Comparison, and the End of" Eastern Europe"." World Politics (2000): 143-172. online[dead link]
  6. ^ A summary of the process containing both economic analysis and anecdotal case studies can be found in Charles Paul Lewis's How the East Was Won (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).
  7. ISBN 0844408484
    .
  8. ^ Tilcsik, A. (2010). "From ritual to reality: Demography, ideology, and decoupling in a post-communist government agency". Academy of Management Journal. 53(6). 1474–1498. Abstract.

Further reading

  • Bown, Archie. The Rise and Fall of Communism (2009)
  • Fürst, Juliane, Silvio Pons and Mark Selden, eds. The Cambridge History of Communism (Volume 3): Endgames?.Late Communism in Global Perspective, 1968 to the Present (2017) excerpt
  • Kotkin, Stephen. Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000 (2nd ed. 2008) excerpt
  • Pons, Silvio, and Robert Service, eds. A Dictionary of 20th-Century Communism (2010).
  • Priestland, David. The Red Flag: A History of Communism (Grove, 2009).
  • Service, Robert. Comrades: A World History of Communism (2007).

External links

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