Communism and the Emergence of Democracy Harald Wydra .378B:DDC 534B97 B95B7 34B9727BCD/303DC475DDD:734B97B7 D7BC8C7333473D:DDCCambridge 534B97 Books B95B7D7BC Online © :DDCCambridge B9 University ,1 Press, 2009 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521851695 © Harald Wydra 2006 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2007 ISBN-13 978-0-511-49118-4 OCeISBN ISBN-13 978-0-521-85169-5 hardback ISBN-10 0-521-85169-6 hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. .378B:DDC 534B97 B95B7 34B9727BCD/303DC475DDD:734B97B7 D7BC8C7333473D:DDCCambridge 534B97 Books B95B7D7BC Online © :DDCCambridge B9 University ,1 Press, 2009 Communism and the Emergence of Democracy Before democracy becomes an institutionalised form of political author- ity, the rupture with authoritarian forms of power causes deep uncer- tainty about power and outcomes. This book connects the study of democratisation in eastern Europe and Russia to the emergence and crisis of communism. Wydra argues that the communist past is not simply a legacy but needs to be seen as a social organism in gestation, where critical events produce new expectations, memories, and symbols that influence meanings of democracy. By examining a series of pivotal historical events, he shows that democratisation is not just a matter of institutional design, but rather a matter of consciousness and leadership under conditions of extreme and traumatic incivility. Rather than adopting the opposition between non-democratic and democratic, Wydra argues that the communist experience must be central to the study of the emergence and nature of democracy in (post-) communist countries. H ARALD W YDRA teaches Politics at the University of Cambridge and is a fellow in Social and Political Sciences at St Catharine’s College. He is the author of Continuities in Poland’s Permanent Transition (2001). .378B:DDC 534B97 B95B7 34B9727BCD/303DC475DDD:734B97B7 D7BC8C7333473D:DDCCambridge 534B97 Books B95B7D7BC Online © :DDCCambridge B9 University ,1 Press, 2009 .378B:DDC 534B97 B95B7 34B9727BCD/303DC475DDD:734B97B7 D7BC8C7333473D:DDCCambridge 534B97 Books B95B7D7BC Online © :DDCCambridge B9 University ,1 Press, 2009 To Mathieu and Cassia .378B:DDC 534B97 B95B7 34B9727BCD/303DC475DDD:734B97B7 D7BC8C7333473D:DDCCambridge 534B97 Books B95B7D7BC Online © :DDCCambridge B9 University ,1 Press, 2009 .378B:DDC 534B97 B95B7 34B9727BCD/303DC475DDD:734B97B7 D7BC8C7333473D:DDCCambridge 534B97 Books B95B7D7BC Online © :DDCCambridge B9 University ,1 Press, 2009 Contents Acknowl edgement s page viii 1 Communism and democracy – a problematisation 1 Part I The experiential basis of communism and democracy 29 2 Revolutions, transitions, and uncertainty 31 3 The political symbolism of communism 58 4 Experiencing democratic transformations 83 Part II Critical events and their symbolisations 109 5 The rise of Bolshevik power 111 6 The emergence of the Cold War 137 7 The articulation of dissidence 162 8 The collapse of communism 189 Part III Democracy as a process of meaning-formation 217 9 The power of memory 219 10 The future that failed 244 11 Democracy as a civilising process 269 Index 296 vii /47879CBD, 645C7:8 C:6C8 .45C7:838CD0414,,D5868.45C7:8.C8 8CD9D8444584BD,Cambridge 645C7:8 Books C:6C88CD Online © BD,7Cambridge C: University .2 Press, 2009 Acknowledgements This project has been carried through quite a few different stages in my professional life. Its intellectual roots go back to my time at the European University Institute in Florence. The theoretical and methodological shape was conceived when I was a lecturer in the Department of Political Science at the University of Regensburg. Large portions were drafted during a post-doctoral fellowship at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, for which the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst and the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme provided me with generous grants. Much of the writing was accomplished at the University of Cambridge, where I have been teaching politics since 2003. The scope of this book makes clear that I have accumulated huge intellectual and emotional debts to many friends and colleagues who have assisted this project with their scholarly wisdom, friendly advice, and generous criticism. Many of the ideas expounded here have travelled in recent years, gathering stimulating suggestions that substantially improved the argument. The audiences in Montreal, Krako´w, Giessen, Warsaw, Halle, Rennes, Lublin, Canterbury, Regensburg, Edinburgh, Granada, and Berlin showed extraordinary intellectual patience with my propositions. At crucial junctures, the moral support and encouragement of some helped me to pursue a project that at times seemed too unwieldy to be mastered. My gratitude goes especially to Michel Dobry for his friendship and intellectual complicity. Arpad Szakolczai and Richard Sakwa have been extremely supportive, showing steadfast belief in this project. Jean-Pierre Dupuy, Leslie Holmes, and Claus Offe gave precious and important advice at the right time. Although the debts incurred in writing this book are too many to be listed, I would like to express my gratitude to Maurice Aymard, Verena Bauer, Daniel Beer, Victoria Bonnell, Hinnerk Bruhns, Patrick Chabal, Elena Chebankova, Marta Craveri, Alex Du¨ben, Jacob Eisler, Marcin Frybes, Jean-Franc¸ois Gossiaux, Vladimir Gradev, Horst-Alfred Heinrich, Oliver Hidalgo, Wolfram Hinzen, Ben Holland, Agnes Horva´th, Josef Karl, Basil Kerski, James Krapfl, PawełKuglarz, David Lane, Eric Langenbacher, viii .378B:DDC 534B97 B95B7 34B9727BCD/303DC475DDD:734B97B7 D7BC8C7333473D:DDCCambridge 534B97 Books B95B7D7BC Online © :DDCCambridge B9 University ,1 Press, 2009 Acknowledgements ix Chris Layne, Julie Lynch, Ulrich Ma¨hlert, Ismael Medesma, Kate Nash, Mark Nowottny, Heino Nyysso¨nen, Leo Max Pollack, Sergei Prozorov, Robert Pynsent, Glen Rangwala, Jutta Scherrer, Mathias Schmitz, Alan Scott, Ruth Scurr, Kazimierz Sobotka, John Street, Marie Strohe, Tobias Theiler, Vladimir Tismaneanu, Ade Tra¨gler, Elena Trubina, Stephen Welch, Manfred Wilke, Alexander Wo¨ll, Gergana Yankova, and Ju¨rgen Zimmerer. Christian Strobel’s work as a research assistant was extremely valuable. John Haslam’s sympathy for this project was accompanied by great patience and understanding for various delays in the completion of the typescript. The extraordinarily efficient and thorough work of my copy-editor, Karen Anderson Howes, has considerably improved the typescript’s quality. Here at Cambridge, the intellectual sympathy and generosity of my colleagues in the Department of Politics were vital. John Dunn, Emile Perreau-Saussine, Mary Sarotte, Helen Thompson, and John A. Thompson read and commented on parts of the manuscript. Andreja Zivkovic edited the manuscript and gave me many opportunities to sharpen the argument in engaged discussion. I am particularly grateful to Geoffrey Hawthorn who read and extensively commented on the entire manuscript. Without his perceptive thoughts and generosity far beyond the call of duty, the writing of this book would have been far more of a struggle. While this book leaves many questions unresolved, it tries to cast doubts on estab- lished certainties. Needless to say, remaining errors and inaccuracies are entirely my own responsibility. My gratitude also goes to my college, St Catharine’s, which has made me feel at home from the very first day. Last but not least, it has been the students at Cambridge who have been a major source of inspiration, criticism, and challenge. The greatest debt, however, is to my family. My wife Anne put up with countless excuses for too many extensions of office hours and substantial periods of absence during holidays. Her endurance and unfailing care for my soul were decisive in helping me to persevere. As they have been growing up with this book, the spirited nature of my children Mathieu and Cassia has invigorated the argument and given meaning to a book that I dedicate to them. .378B:DDC 534B97 B95B7 34B9727BCD/303DC475DDD:734B97B7 D7BC8C7333473D:DDCCambridge 534B97 Books B95B7D7BC Online © :DDCCambridge B9 University ,1 Press, 2009 .378B:DDC 534B97 B95B7 34B9727BCD/303DC475DDD:734B97B7 D7BC8C7333473D:DDCCambridge 534B97 Books B95B7D7BC Online © :DDCCambridge B9 University ,1 Press, 2009 1 Communism and democracy – a problematisation The history of man is older than the material world, which is the work of his will, older than life, which rests upon his will. Thomas Mann As startling as the sudden and total disintegration of the Soviet Union may have been, the complete oblivion to which communism has quickly been consigned has been no less surprising. Political analyses of democratisation in eastern Europe have all but forgotten the rise of communism in Russia after 1917 and its enormous influence on the politics of the