Cheuso New World Disorder The Leninist Extinction KEN JOWITT Boule puller prblitece vm Yous (Gtr — 43 waler 203 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkely Los Angele Oxlord mr /8 THE LENINIST LEGACY ‘CONCEFTUAL GEOGRAPHY Eastern Europe's boundaries—policl, ideological, economic, and mitary--have bon radial sedcined wee iow than enury- At he end of Word War 1, "he diappearanee tie ‘tenn mp moe inare a hstory) eta huge api the conceptual geography ofthe {Satine OF what dl Cena Europe now bese Wheto as, what Westin landmass whove pola dons lad Deon uteri and nrecogeiaby remade within single feng" ie 1089, the Soviet boc became extn communi paresincery Eastern European county added the ls of pois poses {heir ear lo of dealoglpurpove during ne an of re ‘ocala’ andthe Soviet Untons te "wert Ffatesanra perpetual Cente of this imperium, mat ony etre Instat i colar. The rel i 4 gap in Europe’ eptal geography nok sigifcan koh that of 1618 {in 1987, Dan Chitot and I pined out tha “aceause of ts historical experience. the diversity fs cultural raion, and its vueray to big power itrfeence, Eastern Europe as had, and wil contin to haves uniqucly crenve role pro dicing eas and experimental solatons for ating the meh problems of the modern world, Nt only ¢ number of fey rustic and Ikerary movement, but alo poial eeslgin ‘Tscyigaota be ped ino Ba ed Ear Ege Rrlaon (ESSAY Cn Uahesty Bem Te appease py ty aT Rete Go Earp Die 8901 rE pee, 9p We comin fom el ew Yo De 2s socialism, and peasantism received major in ‘norte conteibudons from Eastern and Central Europe the first half of the twentieth century" The mas extinction of Leninist regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989 is dramatic Promising, and unseting event, and its immediate conse: ‘quence isa direct challenge tothe boundaries and tlentiacs ofthe region an is constituent parts, Whether the transfor ‘mation is looked at asan imperative, proces or outcome, Ease ern Europe is inthe midst of redefining is cultural frames ‘of reference, political and economic institution, and polica territorial boundaries. Once again, Eastern Europe has become 4 laboratory in which a Set of experiments are being under. taken under less than contolled conditions, The likened fs ‘that mos wl fal but some willseceed, and many of those wil have predominantly and-democrati capitalist feaures, What ‘ever the results ofthe curren turmoil in Eastern Europe, one ‘thing i cleat: the new instiational patterns willbe shape by {he “inbeitance” and legacy of forty years of Lenni rae ‘THE “INHERITANCE* Confronted with a turbulent enveonment, there is @ quite un derstandable, predictable, and observable endeney by intelee. tual to restore certainty diomatically. Tha certainly the cae with Eastern Europe. One ofits most pronounced expresins {the feishlikerepetiion of dhe phrase "transi to demex: acy," aif saying often enough, and inviting enough Lat American scholars from the United States to enough confer, ences in Eastern Europe (and the Soviet Union), ill magically suarantee anew democratic capital eosin plage of the ct ic economic, and teriorial maelstrom that the realy to lay One is reminded of Mephisto's observation: "Men unvally betieve, if only they hear words, / That there must also he some Sort of meaning. From the "wanstion to democracy” perspec. tive, astern Europe resembles 3 historical blackboard wren Pabst Whe oa en fy Coe FAS ren ay, bey, Antara 155,286 The Lei Ley om with Leni hat fo fry years erase arg by Sve Stn n 198 nd wating ata ascot ern inert eaptaliesp oweveranysubaanialaalsiof democracy and make {chive ther substantive nde" What no Leninist regime ever id was create eealtr of impersonal mesurd action The result 's an Eastern European (Soviet, Chinese) population mose of trhove members have very ite experience with regula, delib- Crate economic and politcal activity in a context of impersonal procedures; a population that ini authoritarian peasant and Leninise personas s more familiar with sharp dxjnetions be tween petiods of intense acon and psn than with what Weber termed the "methodical rational acqnstion” of goods ‘or votes) 2 population that nits majority would find the tenor Sand operation of Ben Franklins Protestant ibeal capitalist way oie boring, demeaning, and, in good part, unintelligible Ironically, even the remarkable dcovery,artcilation, and publicexpresion of human dignity and pubic ethics by exern- lary poltical figures like Adam Michik and Viel Havel, And etic movernens like Soldariy and Civic Forem partaly Feinfore the antagonistic juxaposiion of suspect political chit. hy Oi, a ee ee echt “Betctiogs Yates eee seca Ue eee oy Soult pn tonel eaeey The List Legacy wor and oe of privat virtue ad this, In 1989, n Eatera. Enrope one sa the caramatc efforescenc of pubic ethics demands for and expressions of individual digas the ate" othe aperture of poli fe ly 158 in Ease em Europe, ets moved Irom te prey personal real to the pute rea ne i the foro an neue privat dard for pub performace arth United Sas tay) at {San autonomens pola coeron for pub sction oe at Judges leadership in terms pct om and conuinaton to thaman ign However, ierl democrats pies do not ret primarily, for that mater cans ex prntary,on the arate pee smanenceof pial ec! leserhip of tne private es ats cen! They rex on pub wes” Daren ighy Emphasizes thai 3 sci” where “private” sre xa, the human personality, becomes 4 enture without «public les and the formation of the nation let being. Many may wel be quite content with thi sate of alfa That greaet Ihsppince i found in private ble, inthe heights and dep at friendship, and Tanda! hrtony inthe stalcton fie precie revere, perhaps even the nearly metal bonds with otters in untructred elec’ Now Intent the Russian poet Andre! Vornesen: "in Ra, thnk we hee "spinal fe. We canta l day ad al night tong about ail inds of quetions, immoral quesons. That the Rasa Sole of thinking T want our economy to be the somes in {he West» But Iam arid t se tie Resin pat of our Soul Voonesenaky’ reflection, and for that mater the ene thrust of Herik Sth een description of Russian popular ‘altar, speate othe predominanes of prac one publ tues inthe Rasan population, ad no gen damages dancin gencralaing hs obcrations othe maori of people prac a1) every Eastern Eoropean nao ‘auern Europe's pre Lenni pestnt clture and oigarchi- esr oe nn eps enn Sh makes Sen The mint gay 2 cal authoritarian elites (at times cosmesially outed with ‘Western poial facades), he netradional features of Sain invand Breshnevite rule and the ethical charisma of 1980, for all their qualitative difference, combine to provide a remark bly conastent and continuous support for worldview in ‘which polial ie i surpect,disateful, and posbly danger: ‘us; tobe kept bay by dssimlation, made tolerable by Pr ‘ate imimacy, and transcended by private virtues or charismatic ‘tice. To retarn to Dahrendorf: the “inner-dircetion of those ‘Svinte to private virtues sincomplete Is eran wih out sibel lament, the caryng ever of nee othe mart of pois and th cnn." To pte uly: the Lenin legacy, Understood as the impact of Party organization, practice, and ‘ethos end the inal charismatic ethical opposition to ator an Suthoritarian, nota iberl democratic capital, way of Hes the ‘bstces to which are not simply how to privative and mate etize the economy, or organize an electoral campaign, but "ather how to institutionalize public virtues, Eastern European ste and socal audiences hate inherited what is for the most prea rospicious culture of mutual envy fostered bya corrupt ‘eotradtonal Lenin despotism that in good measure unt Intentionally reinforced a Set of “limited ood” peasant cue tures" The charsmatcally ethical antithesis provoked by real socials indigniies Solidarity being the paradigmatic in ‘ances by is ery ature an usable; inadequate base for 8 tolerant polity based on the complementarity of ethics and tereats. Weber's observations are quite apt in examining the woh Subecee raha tt a a ee Th pear ny gees ore 9 Spores See armenia Sree ees Se te eee SOE ge Gea dicuon of “tied god” curs ad the einer ater en24 The Lei Legacy current fate of Solidarity in Poland and Civic Forum in Cech ‘slovakia: "When the tide that fed charismatic led group, ‘out of everyday lie flows back into the channels of workaday ire’ form of charismatic domination wll ‘wane and turm into at institution’ tisthen either mechanized, 48 i were, ot imperceptibly displaced by other structures, ase with them inthe most diverse forms, so that t becomes» mere component ofa concrete historia structure I this ese itis often transformed beyond recognition, and identfible ‘nly on an analyte level THE FRAGMENTATION OF EASTERN EUROPE A gor place to begin specifying the type of developments Ikly to ccc in Ester Europe witha look at a pec! fag “The mos vivid yma a he Romanian upesing in Decerbee 1969 waste sigh ofthe Romanian fw ts Lenin center ripped out Eastern Europe in 1000 and 1991 is ike the Ro Imunian fag: Leni center hasbeen removed, bu a god deal ofits tsttoal and cultural inberance sill i place Inallof Eastern Europe the Lenin FxincGon ws 0 ch case of rine collapse a regime delet nicely captured b Garwon Aas term "rfoitiont™ ere “And what one now sc taking place in Eastern Europe is tore the breakup of exiting denies and boundaries an a breakthrough io ew ones. Before the later happens poll conflict in batern Europe wil have to get beyord the many fe called" to the “few ate choen stage to a point where the “anagoniss are pocaly organised, nt simply ssceraly hens hed: Currently, the cleavages in Eastern Eotope are nether osscuting nor superimposed. They are dfs, poorly ate ‘ated, pryeholgil st mucha pltical, nd,becnse ofthat, Temarlabl intense. One reston for the fuse maniesaon ‘of seciopolia cleavages isthe absence of extabshed succes Ste ee erent i Carer Raha Cis itch “3 Nit Crp MR Singin of Two Na” Nest Ref BJ 15 18 The Lit Logcy 2s eles in these counties With the exception of Solari, por to 1988, most opposition elites in Eastern Burope had ‘minimal insulation fom the intrusive punitive presence of their Lenin adversities, minima amity wih ne nother ‘nd “politic as vation,” and minimal sucess In bonding ‘i polly loyal sca constituency Only in Poland, over Almost two detades, di coumterete enjoy Yenanike rotecvfintrctie experience; one that produced contre {ous but mutual tla an intellect that cohered, lind even in ts curren dived and dv sate offers Poland Something more inporanthan ether marketiaton or Slovak military and Catholic Chore Im short i wll ake the {ype of liberal authoritarianism that existed in nineteenth Century Wedere Earope. Both unambiguously freely elected parliamentary oalidons and presidens who vely primarily or Exclusively onthe mltary and the Church willbe overwhelmed by emergency environments 1 suggest that a form of liberal authoritarianism ike the bourgeot regimes of nineteenth Century Western Europe? ira desirable akerative tthe 4, lof Eauern Emap an he Sve Uo ae in 3 Spear lund shan, fOr Slender meen cay Ferg a fbi Germ i Pca oe or enid rans tetel ah artim o's cin ‘SSfeuting arte scan) Inconnecon wt Raw and store Fite Kamt"Pagoe Relomess Reel and Seple Ey fei ac Ceara Bring he Fapced Fan aia! anal re Geer 960 fam) 0B “Ga Gta se Rach Wee, aa prion a 808 121 erly ine ln 9m prc he o> rt sonnei S. Haron, The Bath of New oe Sato ye Nn Cn Capel Ha Unieso4 The Lenin Lacy religion, militant nationalist, even faci regimes that might emerge from the maelstrom and + more practical re sponse than the utopian wish for immediate mass democracy in Eastern Europe, “The economic emergency in Eastern Europe isa socal emer- gency, and the political responses toi are ikely to draw on Iisuiutions, elite, polices and orientations that in varying bt ako shared, ways define themselves in terms of hicrarchy and Solidary and exclusionary practices—tike the rity” and ‘Church. The ise is not thei participation, but on what ter! ‘THE “TWAIN” HAD BETTER MEET The Lenin legacy in Eastern Europe consis largely—not ‘excusvely—of fragmented, mal spouses with lle religo-cltral support for tolerant snd individual sell reliant behavior and fragmented epon made up of Cou ties that view each eter wth animonty. Te way Lents fled and the way Leninismcollgpnedcontibued to isi heriance However, the emergence and compostion of move. ‘ment lke Ge Forum inthe Crch and, Pubic agains Vio lence in Stovaia, the Alla of Fee Democrats Hungary, the Union of Democratic Forces in Bulge, and the Cie A. Tiance in Romania bear witness tothe tea ofa modern ce zeny in Eastern Europe, But is one that must compete with nti, antisecular anni forces out ad inside ‘salt With the pone exception of Poland, no Eascrn Eur pean country has predominandy ce cabled elte and Eonsttueney’ Question I thee at pont of leverage rica tnawsof evi eflortplitia, cultural an economic tha can {dd 1s weight to ce forees in Eastern Europe and check the increasing frasration, depression, fragmentation, and anger that wil ead to country. and eponwie wolenee ofa com nal ype tn Eastern Europe! Ye! Wesern Europe “The neccesary, though not necessary forthcoming, Western european response tothe ypdsone of Eastern European fag Noh Caran Pe, 1989 3 ns Heh Te of Epi, The Lenin Leary sos mentation(s)is adoption: of Eastern Europe by Western Europe The fragmentation of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Unto (here recently a district of Moscow tempted to elm sever: ‘ignty over the Bolshor Ballet) nota neural. peripheral, se Contained event» [ti already affecting political dente ad {elations in and between the Western and "Third" worlds. The disintegration of the former Leninist word and the ongoing fragmentation ofits suecesvor regimes ean ether be the sine ‘lu fora parallel ethnictvie confrontation in Western Eur fad the United States) ora stimulus for the West to atemptin Eastern Europe and pars ofthe Sovie Union what West Get= ‘many is attempting in East Germany: adoption. ‘This would require enormous imagination, coordination, and intrsion on Western Bope's fn, in 4 significant way ‘he United States) part: a massive economic presence, prow Sion for major poptation shifts on the European continent, land intracontinenal party cooperation and acon; al of whic ‘would substantially affect che curren dehniion and operation ‘of national sovereignty. One alternative is for Western Europe to become liberal fortress Europe and. deny ss “brothers eeper” responsibly. In that case, developments in Eastern Europe will degenerate in frightening fashion. 50. See chapter 7 above