Communist nostalgia and the consolidation of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe

„Kritiški piliečiai“? Posovietinės jaunimo kartos požiūris į demokratiją, politiką ir sovietinę praeitį

“…Viena iš priežasčių galima laikyti nostalgijos sovietmečiui bangą, kilusią po Sovietų Sąjungos žlugimo, kai buvo bandoma išsiaiškinti, ar palankus praeities vertinimas nereiškia palankumo nedemokratiniam režimui (Ekman, Linde 2005).…”

From shortage economy to second economy: An historical ethnography of rural life in communist Albania

“…This issue has been much discussed in research situations where people are interviewed about their 'past lives' when such lives contrast markedly with the 'present', and there is a specific literature on the phenomenon of nostalgia -sometimes called 'Ostalgie' -in East European post-socialist contexts (see Betts, 2003;Brunnbauer, 2007;Ekman and Linde, 2005;Pasieka, 2012;Velikonja, 2009). What these studies generally show is that nostalgia can be used as a narrative trope to signal profound dissatisfaction with the present.…”

Communism and the Meaning of Social Memory: Towards a Critical-Interpretive Approach

“…It is usually expected that, all other things being equal, "within the boundary of the nation, agreement should exist on the moral valuation of the collective memory even if the particular justifications differ" (Fine, 2001: 22; see also Wertsch, 2002). Yet what one notices is a striking and intriguing contemporary phenomenon: positive public evaluations/perceptions of the communist period, what is usually broadly referred to as 'nostalgia for communism' (Ekman and Linde, 2005;Todorova and Gille, 2010;Velikonja, 2009;Willinger, 2007). Positive public perceptions of communism are usually seen as "paradoxical", "bewildering", "mindboggling", "bizarre" and "ambivalent"; these perceptions question and throw into doubt consensual official/elite expectations around a shared moral national valuation of the social memory of communism.…”

“…When one considers the various contemporary appraisals, responses to and positions towards the communist period (both official and vernacular) one notices that they all seem to point towards a personal and collective moral and political quandary first identified by Adorno: "one wants to get free of the past … one cannot live in its shadow' but the 'past one wishes to evade is still so intensely alive " (1986: 115). I focus here on the condemnation of communism in Romania in the Tismăneanu Report (Tismăneanu et al, 2007;Tismăneanu, 2008) and public positive evaluations of the communist period, what is usually broadly referred to as "nostalgia for communism" (see, inter alia, Velikonja, 2009;Willinger, 2007;Todorova and Gille, 2010;Ekman and Linde, 2005).…”