Možnosti a meze jednoho paradigmatu. Teorie totalitarismu aplikovaná na státní socialismus středovýchodní Evropy

• Authors: Bianca Hoenig

Title variants

EN

The Possibilities and Limits of a Paradigm: The Theory of Totalitarianism Applied to State Socialism in East-central Europe

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

The theory of totalitarianism experienced a kind of boom after the collapse of the ‘Iron Curtain,’ predominantly in the countries formerly in the Eastern bloc and also in connection with attempts by those countries to come to terms with their Socialist past. Whereas this concept is frequently criticized, particularly in the West, it has been broad accepted throughout Eastern Europe to this very day. Considering results of research on Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany, the author here analyses how the theory of totalitarianism is being applied and what this produces. The literature examined is divided into studies devoted to the claims used to justify totalitarian rule and those devoted to totalitarian rule in reality, with the focus being on questions pertaining to the normative force of science, the possibilities of explaining dynamics of governmental power, and to people involved in the changes observed. All these factors demonstrate that the theory of totalitarianism is of limited value for the historical evaluation of State Socialism in East-central Europe, though as a phenomenon of contemporary history it does merit attention.

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Soudobé dějiny (Contemporary History)
• Year: 2009
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 640-652

Contributors

author

Bianca Hoenig

• Soudobé dějiny, redakce, Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR, v.v.i., Vlašská 9, 118 40 Praha 1, Czech Republic