owners, rulers, & rebels: revolution in the second & third worlds (pcee 26, 1992) jeff goodwin

8/4/2019 Owners, Rulers, & Rebels: Revolution in the Second & Third Worlds (PCEE 26, 1992) Jeff Goodwin.

1/48

Owners, Rulers, and Rebels:Revolution in th e Second an d Third Worlds

by Jeff GoodwinDepartment of Sociology

New York University

Program on Central an d Eastern Europe Working Paper Series 126

This paper examines some of the striking similarities, as well as differences, between thecombined national and social revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe, on the one hand, andThird World revolutions, on the other. The paper reviews a series of similarities betweenboth the old regimes an d the oppositional movements that those regimes helped toconstitute in both the Second and Third worlds. I t also attempts to account for theremarkably nonviolent character of the events of 1989 and for the "exceptionalism" of theRomanian case, where violence did occur. Analytically, the paper suggests that neitherthe ideological and strategic orientation no r the political capacities and fortunes ofrebellious movements "from below" can be fully understood without analYZing the na tureof the regimes and elites "above" them, especially the relationship between owners(economic authorities) and rulers (political authorities).


2/48


3/48

owners , R u l e r s , an d Rebe l s

R e v o l u t i o n i n t h e Second and T h i r d Worlds

J e f f GoodwinNew York U n i v e r s i t y

I n t r o d u c t i o n

The c o l l a p s e o r r e t r e a t o f e m p i r e s h a s s u r e l y been one o f

t h e d i s t i n g u i s h i n g and most c o n s e q u e n t i a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e

t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y. The s t r u g g l e s f o r n a t i o n a l s o v e r e i g n t y t h a t

have h e l p e d t o c o r r o d e e m p i r e s , moreover, have somet imes

( a l t h o u g h c e r t a i n l y n o t a lways ) been f u s e d w i t h a t t e m p t s t o

change r a d i c a l l y t h e soc ioeconomic i n s t i t u t i o n s i n h e r i t e d from

t h e i m p e r i a l i s t s . The r e s u l t s o f t h i s f u s i o n have been

n a t i o n a l i s t r e v o l u t i o n s - - o r r e v o l u t i o n a r y n a t i o n a l i s m s

a n o t h e r phenomenon l a r g e l y p e c u l i a r t o t h e p r e s e n t c e n t u r y . Most

r e c e n t l y , i n t h e w e s t e r n domin ions o f t h e e r s t w h i l e S o v i e t Union,

i m p e r i a l d o m i n a t i o n n o t on ly provoked and s u s t a i n e d a n a t i o n a l i s t

o p p o s i t i o n , b u t a l s o u n w i t t i n g l y " r a d i c a l i z e d " i t ( a l b e i t i t i n a

v e r y p a r t i c u l a r wa y t h a t I d i s c u s s be low) . Thus , t h e E a s t e r n

European r e v o l u t i o n s o f 1989, a s P a v e l Campeanu h a s p o i n t e d o u t ,

had " a d u a l n a t u r e : s o c i a l , s i n c e t h e i r g o a l was t o d e s t r o y t h e

s o c i o e c o n o m i c s t r u c t u r e s o f s t a l i n i s m , and n a t i o n a l , s i n c e t h e y

a s p i r e d t o r e - e s t a b l i s h t h e s o v e r e i g n t y o f t h e c o u n t r i e s i n

q u e s t i o n l t (Campeanu 1991, p p . 806-807) .

T h i s p a p e r a rg u e s t h a t t h e combined n a t i o n a l and s o c i a l

r e v o l u t i o n s i n E a s t e r n Europe d i s p l a y a number o f s i m i l a r i t i e s

1


4/48

w i t h T h i r d World r e v o l u t i o n s , d e s p i t e o b v i o u s d i f f e r e n c e s i n form

and i d e o l o g y. I wan t t o a rg u e , more s p e c i f i c a l l y , t h a t t h e r e a r e

some s t r i k i n g s i m i l a r i t i e s between b o t h t h e o l d r e g i m e s and t h e

o p p o s i t i o n a l movements t h a t t h o s e r eg imes h e l p e d t o c o n s t i t u t e i n

t h e Second and T h i r d Wor lds . As t h i s l a s t f o r m u l a t i o n s u g g e s t s ,

my a n a l y s i s r e s t s on t h e view t h a t n e i t h e r t h e n a t u r e n o r t h e

p o l i t i c a l f o r t u n e s o f r e b e l l i o u s movements "f rom below" c an be

u n d e r s t o o d w i t h o u t r e f e r e n c e t o t h e n a t u r e o f t h e r e g i m e s and

e l i t e s "above" them, i n c l u d i n g t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p be tween owners

(o r economic a u t h o r i t i e s ) and r u l e r s (o r p o l i t i c a l a u t h o r i t i e s ) . l

(By "Second World r e v o l u t i o n s " I mean t h e r e v o l u t i o n s o f 1989

a g a i n s t t h e d e p e n d e n t , S o v i e t - i n s t a l l e d r eg imes o f E a s t e r n

Europe , a l t h o u g h I b e l i e v e t h a t much o f my a n a l y s i s a l s o a p p l i e s

t o t h e " i n t e r n a l " empi re o f t h e fo rmer S o v i e t Union, e s p e c i a l l y

t h e B a l t i c s t a t e s . 2 )

1 Of c o u r s e , compar ing t h e r e c e n t s o c i a l - n a t i o n a lr e v o l u t i o n s i n d e p e n d e n t s o c i a l i s t s o c i e t i e s w i t h t h o s e t h a t haveo c c u r r e d i n d e p e n d e n t c a p i t a l i s t s o c i e t i e s a r e n o t t h e o n l yi n t e l l i g i b l e c o m p a r i s o n s t h a t m i g h t be drawn. Recen t e v e n t s i nE a s t e r n Europe have a l s o f r u i t f u l l y been compared , f o r example ,w i t h o t h e r i n s t a n c e s o f t h e breakdown o f a u t h o r i t a r i a n i s m a n d / o rd e m o c r a t i z a t i o n ( e . g . , i n Southe rn Europe , L a t i n Amer ica , andE a s t A s i a ) . However, u n l i k e t h e s e l a t t e r c a s e s , a s C l a u s O ff eh a s n o t e d , t h e p o l i t i c a l t r a n s i t i o n s i n E a s t e r n Europe h a v e beenaccompanied by demands f o r f u n d a m e n t a l - - i n d e e d , r e v o l u t i o n a r y- - soc ioeconomic changes , p a r t i c u l a r l y " t h e t r a n s f e r o f t h eh i t h e r t o s t a t e - o w n e d p r o d u c t i v e a s s e t s t o o t h e r fo rms o f p r o p e r t ya n d , t o t h i s e n d , t h e c r e a t i o n o f an e n t i r e l y new c l a s s o fe n t r e p r e n e u r s " (Offe 1991 , p . 8 6 9 ) .

2 T h i s p a p e r d o e s n o t t a k e up t h e much l a r g e r t a s k o fe x p l a i n i n g t h e c o l l a p s e ( o r p e r s i s t e n c e ) o f s t a t e s o c i a l i s m i nt h o s e c o u n t r i e s where i t was e s t a b l i s h e d t h r o u g h i n d i g e n o u sr e v o l u t i o n s ( e . g . , t h e S o v i e t Union, Yu g o s l a v i a , A l b a n i a , China ,Cuba, and Vi e t n a m ) .

z


5/48

My a n a l y s i s h a s two h a l v e s : t h e f i r s t emphas izes t h e

s i m i l a r i t i e s be tween Second World r e v o l u t i o n s , on t h e one hand

( f o c u s i n g m a i n l y on t h e c a s e s o f P o l a n d , Hungary, E a s t Germany,

and C z e c h o s l o v a k i a ) , and T h i r d World r e v o l u t i o n s , on t h e o t h e r( i n c l u d i n g such c a s e s a s Mexico , Vie tnam, A l g e r i a , CUba, Angola ,

Mozambique, I r a n , and N i c a r a g u a ) ; t h e second h a l f o f t h e a n a l y s i s

f o c u s e s on t h e d i f f e r e n c e s between t h e s e s e t s o f c a s e s . More

s p e c i f i c a l l y , a f t e r d i s c u s s i n g some o f t h e s i m i l a r i t i e s between

b o t h t h e o l d r e g i m e s and r e v o l u t i o n a r y movements i n t h e Second

and T h i r d Worlds ( P a r t I ) - - s i m i l a r i t i e s t h a t have been l a r g e l y

o v e r l o o k e d i n r e c e n t d i s c u s s i o n s o f E a s t e r n Europe - - I t u r n t o

some o f t h e d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e form o r p r o c e s s e s o f t h e s e

r e v o l u t i o n s ( P a r t I I ) , f o c u s i n g i n p a r t i c u l a r on t h e u n u s u a l l y

n o n v i o l e n t n a t u r e o f t h e r e v o l u t i o n s i n E a s t e r n Europe . (These

d i f f e r e n c e s h i g h l i g h t c e r t a i n fundamenta l d i s s i m i l a r i t i e s i n o l d

r e g i m e s and r e v o l u t i o n a r y movements t h a t I n e c e s s a r i l y g l o s s o v e r

i n t h e f i r s t h a l f o f t h e p a p e r . ) F i n a l l y, I a l s o b r i e f l y examine

t h e " e x c e p t i o n a l " ( L e . , v i o l e n t ) e v e n t s i n Romania i n December

1989 ( P a r t I I I ) , t h e u p h e a v a l i n E a s t e r n . E u r o p e t h a t seems most

s i m i l a r t o p r e v i o u s s o - c a l l e d " n e o p a t r i m o n i a l r e v o l u t i o n s " i n t h e

T h i r d World - - a v iew, I w i l l s u g g e s t , t h a t i s o n l y p a r t l y

a c c u r a t e . 3

3 My a n a l y s i s o f t h e E a s t e r n European r e v o l u t i o n s i s basedg e n e r a l l y , i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e s o u r c e s c i t e d , on G a r t o n Ash 1990,GWertzman and Kaufman, e d s . , 1990 , Brown 1991, Ramet 1991, andt h e e s s a y s i n P r i n s , e d . , 1990, and Banac , e d . , 1992. Myu n d e r s t a n d i n g o f E a s t e r n Europe h a s a l s o b e n e f i t t e d enormous lyfrom c o n v e r s a t i o n s and c o r r e s p o n d e n c e w i t h Va l e r i e Bunce .

3


6/48

I . S i m i l a r i t i e s : The o ld Regimes and Revolu t ionary Mobi l iza t ion

The o ld regimes o f Eas te rn Europe shared a t l e a s t fou r

c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s with tw o p a r t i c u l a r types of Third World regimes

t h a t have proven excep t iona l ly vulnerable t o r evo lu t iona ryoverthrow, t h a t i s , neopat r imonia l , p e r s o n a l i s t d i c t a t o r s h i p s , on

th e one hand, such as once ru l ed Mexico, I r an , Cuba, and

Nicaragua, and r a c i a l l y exclus ionary, " d i r e c t l y ru l ed" c o l o n i a l

regimes, on th e o t h e r hand, such as were once found in Vietnam,

Alge r i a , Angola, and Mozambique. These regime c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s

became th e focus o f an extremely broad oppos i t ion and, by

r ende r ing t h e s e regimes "unreformable," unwi t t i ng ly he lped t o

f o s t e r th e development of r e a c t i v e l y " rad ica l " movements (see

Goodwin and Skocpol 1989).

What a re t hese l e t h a l regime c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s ? Both Second

an d Third World r evo lu t ions have des t royed s t a t e s t h a t were

s imul taneous ly (1 ) highly autonomous of r e l a t i v e l y weakly

organized domes t ic s o c i a l c l a s s e s and i n t e r e s t groups ; (2 )

economical ly and /o r m i l i t a r i l y dependent upon, and i n many cases

i n s t a l l e d by, fore ign powers; (3 ) i nd i sc r imina te ly r e p r e s s i v e of

independent oppos i t i ona l movements ( i . e . , p o t e n t i a l l y l oya l an d

r e f o r m i s t as wel l as r a d i c a l and d i s l o y a l movements); and (4 )

i n t ima te ly imp l i ca t ed in the ownership or c o n t r o l o f impor tan t

economic s e c t o r s , i f not t h e economy as a whole - - in o t h e r

words, t h e r e wa s a very c lose connec t ion , i f no t a c t u a l fu s ion ,

between owners and r u l e r s . As i n th e Thi rd World, th e

combinat ion o f extreme (domestic) s t a t e autonomy, e x t e r n a l


7/48

dependence, exclus ionary au thor i t a r i an i sm, an d p o l i t i c i z e d

economies i n Eas t e rn Europe u l t i m a t e l y proved t o be an espec ia l ly

explos ive mix tu re , as oppos i t ion t o communist regimes t h a t never

had s U b s t a n t i a l l eg i t imacy due t o t h e i r fore ign impos i t ion becamer a d i c a l i z e d , very broadly based, i n t e n s e l y focused on th e s t a t e ,

an d c l o s e l y l i nked t o demands f o r n a t i o n a l l i b e r a t i o n from

e x t e r n a l domina t ion . 4 Let me now explore some o f th e components

of t h i s exp los ive mixture i n more d e t a i l .

Th e domes t ic "hyper-autonomy," t o use Wal te r Connor ' s term

(1988, p . 9 ) , o f th e S o v i e t - i n s t a l l e d regimes o f Eas te rn European

has long been emphasized i n t h e s o c i a l - s c i e n c e l i t e r a t u r e on

Sov ie t - type s o c i e t i e s . s In t h i s r e s p e c t , t hese regimes were

s t r u c t u r a l l y q u i t e s i m i l a r t o t hose Third World reg imes t h a t have

proven most vu lne rab le t o r evo lu t iona ry movements. As Er ic Wolf

has argued , th e pene t ra t ion of "North At lan t i c c a p i t a l i s m " i n to

non-European s o c i e t i e s - - l i k e t he pene t r a t ion o f Sta l in i sm i n to

Eastern Europe - - weakened or des t royed t r a d i t i o n a l e l i t e s and

thereby encouraged " the r i s e or pe rpe tua t ion of a dominant

c e n t r a l execu t ive , a t tempt ing t o s t and ' above ' th e contending

p a r t i e s and i n t e r e s t groups" :

Diaz r u l e d over Mexico; . . . France exe rc i seda u t o c r a t i c r u l e in vietnam and Alg ie r s th rough h e rgovernor gene ra l , vas t ly more a u t h o r i t a r i a n t han t h e

4 This i s not t o say t h a t Communism d id no t have somel eg i t imacy i n Eastern Europe, espec ia l ly i n t h e immediate postwarper iod ( see Naimark 1992).

5 Schopf l i n r e f e r s t o th e "hyper-e ta t i sm" o f Communistregimes (1991, p . 189) ; see a l so Bunce 1985 and Csanadi 1990.

5


8/48

head o f governmen t a t home; and Cuba was domina ted byB a t i s t a . (Wolf 1969 , p . 284 . )

The p r e - r e v o l u t i o n a r y r eg imes i n I r a n and N i c a r a g u a were a l s o

c h a r a c t e r i z e d by an ex t reme autonomy and p e r s o n a l i s m i n t h e i r

waning y e a r s ( s e e , e . g . , F a r h i 1990, Ch. 2 ; Keddie 1 9 9 2 , pp . 173

174 ; and Wickham-Crowley 1992, ch . 11 ) .

The d o m e s t i c autonomy o f E a s t e r n European r e g i m e s , i n f a c t ,

l i k e t h a t o f p r e - r e v o l u t i o n a r y T h i r d World s t a t e s , was p r e d i c a t e d

on and r e p r o d u c e d by t h e i r h i s t o r i c i n t o l e r a n c e o f " c i v i l

s o c i e t y , " t h a t i s , i n d e p e n d e n t a s s o c i a t i o n s and i d e o l o g i c a l

c u r r e n t s . I n d e e d , t h i s l a t t e r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f s o - c a l l e d

" t o t a l i t a r i a n " r e g i m e s was t h o u g h t by many a n a l y s t s t o p r e c l u d e

t h e v e r y p o s s i b i l i t y o f r a d i c a l change i n E a s t e r n Europe .

However, i n r e c e n t d e c a d e s , i t mus t b e emphas ized , many o f t h e

E a s t e r n European r eg imes - - Romania b e i n g t h e c l e a r e s t

e x c e p t i o n - - l a r g e l y shed t h e i r t o t a l i t a r i a n p r e t e n s i o n s ,

abandon ing t h e g o a l o f i d e o l o g i c a l c o n f o r m i t y among t h e

p o p u l a t i o n , e v e n among P a r t y members, and t o l e r a t i n g " i s l a n d s o f

l i b e r a l i z a t i o n fl w i t h i n s o c i e t y so l ong a s t h e s e d i d n o t seem t o

t h r e a t e n t h e r eg ime a change n i c e l y c a p t u r e d i n J a n o s K a d a r ' s

famous fo rmula t h a t flHe who i s n o t a g a i n s t u s i s w i t h u s . "

I n d e e d , f lAf ter t h e S t a l i n i s t p e r i o d , t h e s t a t e a c c e p t e d an

i m p l i c i t ' p a c t o f n o n - a g g r e s s i o n ' w i t h s o c i e t y , a l l o w i n g c i t i z e n s

t o p u r s u e p r i v a t e and e g o i s t i c ends i n exchange f o r w i t h d r a w a l

from p u b l i c l i f e and p o l i t i c s " ( E k i e r t 1990, p . 2 ; s e e a l s o

Wa l i c k i 1 9 9 1 ) . The a d v e n t o f t h i s f l consumer i s t " p o l i c y o f

" s a l a m i s f o r s u b m i s s i o n , " a s t h e Czechs c a l l e d i t , s u g g e s t s t h a t

6


9/48

Second World t o t a l i t a r i a n i s m was g r a d u a l l y becoming, a t l e a s t i n

c e r t a i n k ey r e s p e c t s , r a t h e r more s i m i l a r t o T h i r d World

a u t h o r i t a r i a n i s m . 6 The p o s t - S t a l i n i s t " s o c i a l compac t , I I however,

even a s i t opened up some s m a l l s p a c e f o r t h e deve lopment o f an

o rg a n i z e d " c i v i l s o c i e t y , " a l s o p l a c e d t h e t h i n p o p u l a r

l e g i t i m a c y - - and s e l f - l e g i t i m a c y - - o f t h e s e r eg imes on a new,n o n - i d e o l o g i c a l , and , a s i t deve loped , even more t e n u o u s b a s i s :

i f t h e r eg ime c o u l d n o t p r o v i d e s u f f i c i e n t s a l a m i , i t had no

r i g h t t o e x p e c t s u b m i s s i o n . 7

I n f a c t , t h e p o l i t i c i z e d economies o f E a s t e r n Europe proved

i n c r e a s i n g l y i n c a p a b l e o f " d e l i v e r i n g t h e g o o d s , " p a r t i c u l a r l y

q u a l i t y consumer goods , d u r i n g t h e 1970s and 1980s ( a l t h o u g h

t h e r e were i m p o r t a n t v a r i a t i o n s among i n d i v i d u a l c o u n t r i e s ) . To

b e s u r e , t h e s e r e g i m e s proved r e l a t i v e l y a d e p t a t heavy

i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n t h r o u g h t h e " e x t e n s i v e " m o b i l i z a t i o n o f e v e r -

g r e a t e r r e s o u r c e s , i n c l u d i n g l a b o r , b u t " i n t e n s i v e " economic

growth b a s e d on t h e e f f i c i e n t u t i l i z a t i o n o f such r e s o u r c e s and

6 The P o l i s h regime o f t h e 1980s , a c c o r d i n g t o Wa l i c k i ,"became s i m i l a r t o t r a d i t i o n a l a u t h o r i t a r i a n r eg imes" (Wal ick i1991, p . 97 ; s e e a l s o J o w i t t 1983, p . 277) . Of c o u r s e , t h econvergence o n l y goes s o f a r : s t a t e ownersh ip o f t h e economy,c e n t r a l p l a n n i n g , L e n i n i s t p a r t i e s , and armed f o r c e s g e n e r a l l ys u b o r d i n a t e t o c i v i l i a n a u t h o r i t i e s , among o t h e r f a c t o r s , c l e a r l yd i f f e r e n t i a t e t h e E a s t e r n European r e g i m e s from mos ta u t h o r i t a r i a n r e g i m e s i n t h e T h i r d World.

7 On t h e i m p l i c i t " s o c i a l compac t s ll i n E a s t e r n Europe , s e eP r a v d a 1981 and P a k u l s k i 1986. Brown n o t e s t h a t t h e r e p u t a t i o no f Kadar, t h e Hungar i an l e a d e r who i s p e r h a p s mos t c l o s e l ya s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e i d e a o f a c o n s u m e r i s t compac t , " c o u l d n o ts u r v i v e t h e u n r a v e l i n g o f t h e s o c i a l compact" d u r i n g t h e economicdownswing o f t h e e a r l y 1980s : IIOnce he f a i l e d t o d e l i v e r , he wasv u l n e r a b l e " (Brown 1991, p . 1 0 4 ) .

7


10/48

t echno log ica l innovat ion was sys t ema t i ca l ly undermined by th e

p o l i t i c i z e d (and mil i t a r i zed ) nature o f s t a t e - s o c i a l i s t

economies . Above a l l , th e " s o f t budget c o n s t r a i n t s " of s t a t e

e n t e r p r i s e s t h a t a re c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of such economies - - t h e

p r a c t i c a l i m p o s s i b i l i t y, t h a t i s , of e n t e r p r i s e s going bankrupt

- - provided fe w i ncen t ives fo r e f f i c i e n t product ion , q u a l i t y

c o n t r o l , t h e development of labor-saving techno log ie s , r i s k -

t ak ing , o r l abo r d i s c i p l i n e . 8

In f a c t , th e "success" of economic e n t e r p r i s e s i n Eas te rn

Europe, as in neopat r imonia l d i c t a t o r s h i p s and r a c i a l l y

exc lus iona ry co lon ie s i n the Third World, wa s t y p i c a l l y l e s s

dependent on economic r a t i o n a l i t y than on access t o s t a t e

r e sou rces and pro tec t ion from would-be compet i tors . Such acces s ,

in t u r n , wa s genera l ly determined by p o l i t i c a l l o y a l t y t o s t a t e

l e a d e r s , p a r t y membership, persona l connec t ions , o u t r i g h t

cor rup t ion , and o t h e r extra-economic f a c t o r s . Eastern Europe ' s

dependence on t h e Sov ie t Union - - l i k e (neo )co lon ia l dependencein t h e Third World - - a l so discouraged i n i t i a t i v e s aimed a t more

e f f i c i e n t n a t i o n a l economies in Eas te rn Europe. Economical ly and

m i l i t a r i l y pro tec ted from both th e compet i t ion of th e g loba l

c a p i t a l i s t economy and p o t e n t i a l g e o p o l i t i c a l r i v a l s , t h e Eas te rn

European regimes were t hus i n su la t ed from two o f th e most

powerful fo rces t h a t have encouraged economic r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n in

th e modern world. Economic d i f f i c u l t i e s , in f a c t , l ed a number

8 See espec ia l ly Kornai 1980 a s wel l as Burawoy and Lukacs ' simpor t an t r e fo rmula t ion (1992, Ch. 3 ) .

8


11/48

o f E a s t e r n European s t a t e s t o borrow h e a v i l y from t h e West d u r i n g

t h e 1970s - - which s imply compounded prob lems o f e x t e r n a l

dependence ( s e e Borocz 1992) - - and t o t o l e r a t e t h e " s e c o n d , "

" b l a c k , " o r " g r a y " economies t h a t deve loped t h r o u g h o u t t h e

r e g i o n , a t l e a s t s o l ong a s t h e s e - - l i k e emergen t " c i v i l

s o c i e t i e s " -- were s e e n t o complement r a t h e r t h a n t h r e a t e n t h eo f f i c i a l s t a t e - c o n t r o l l e d economies .

Economic prob lems i n t h e r e g i o n a l s o l e d t o a number o f

e x p e r i m e n t s w i t h economic l i b e r a l i z a t i o n and d e c e n t r a l i z a t i o n

d u r i n g t h e p o s t - s t a l i n e r a . The ( d e s p o t i c a l l y ) p o l i t i c i z e d

n a t u r e o f s t a t e - s o c i a l i s t economies , however, impeded t h e s o r t o f

f u n d a m e n t a l p o l i t i c a l and economic r e f o r m s t h a t m i g h t have

i n c r e a s e d e n t e r p r i s e e f f i c i e n c y o r , a t l e a s t , made economic

a u s t e r i t y more p a l a t a b l e . S i g n i f i c a n t economic and p o l i t i c a l

l i b e r a l i z a t i o n , i n c l u d i n g g r e a t e r r e l i a n c e upon m a r k e t s a n d / o r

t h e i n c l u s i o n o f ne w g r o u p s and p e r s p e c t i v e s w i t h i n t h e p l a n n i n g

p r o c e s s , t h r e a t e n e d p o l i t i c a l e l i t e s and w e l l - c o n n e c t e d economic

a g e n t s w i t h t h e l o s s o f a c c e s s t o s t a t e - c e n t e r e d economic

r e s o u r c e s . The n o m e n k l a t u r a ' s l o s s o r d i m i n u t i o n o f p o l i t i c a l

a u t h o r i t y o r r u l e r s h i p , i n o t h e r s words , i m p l i e d t h e l o s s o f i t s

economic a u t h o r i t y and p r i v i l e g e s . The r e s u l t was t h a t s t a t e

s o c i a l i s t r e g i m e s - - a g a i n , l i k e p a t r i m o n i a l d i c t a t o r s h i p s and

r a c i a l l y e x c l u s i o n a r y c o l o n i e s i n t h e T h i r d World - - proved

n o t a b l y " u n r e f o r m a b l e , " a t l e a s t u n t i l t h e l a t e 1 9 8 0 s , when

Communist e l i t e s , a s I d i s c u s s below, b e l a t e d l y and h a s t i l y began

t o d i s e n t a n g l e ownersh ip and r u l e r s h i p .

9


12/48

s i n c e t h e " c a r r o t " of reform was unavai lab le , Eastern

Europe ' s s t a t e - s o c i a l i s t regimes - - o r , i f need be , t h e i r s o v i e t

pat ron - - used t h e " s t i c k " a g a i n s t t h e i r p o l i t i c a l opponents . As

in the Third World (and e lsewhere) , however, i nd i sc r imina te

r ep res s ion of oppos i t i ona l movements u l t ima te ly backf i r ed i n

Eas te rn Europe, t emporar i ly impeding o v e r t o p p o s i t i o n a l

a c t i v i t i e s , t o be su re , bu t a t t h e c o s t o f f u r t h e r undermining

t he r eg ime ' s l eg i t imacy and swel l ing th e ranks of (o r a t l e a s t

t hose sympathizing with) an i nc reas ing ly r a d i c a l i z e d oppos i t ion . 9

(As Adam Michnik noted fo r Poland, " I f m a r t i a l law wa s a se tback

fo r independent soc ie ty, i t was a d i s a s t e r fo r th e t o t a l i t a r i a n

s t a t e " (quoted in Echikson 1990, p. 161) . ) Unre l ieved r ep res s ion

and p o l i t i c a l exclus ion pred ic t ab ly weaken th e p o s i t i o n of

oppos i t i ona l e lements c a l l i n g fo r "mere" reforms or

accommodations with th e ex i s t ing regime and s t r eng then t hose

" r a d i c a l s " who argue t h a t th e e n t i r e s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l order

i s obvious ly bankrupt and must be r e c a s t from top t o bot tom. Inf a c t , as Tocquevi l le once argued, highly c e n t r a l i z e d and

autonomous regimes encourage a c e r t a i n utopian d e s i r e f o r " t o t a l

r evo lu t ion" among t h e i r p o l i t i c a l opponents , a t endency t h a t was

9 By " ind i sc r imina te" I do no t wish t o i nd ica te t h a tp o l i t i c a l r ep res s ion in Eas te rn Europe was p a r t i c u l a r l y v i o l e n t .By Third World s tandards , c e r t a i n l y, i t was not (except ing th eHungarian coun te r- r evo lu t ion ) . " Ind i sc r imina t e " r a t h e r i n d i c a t e st h a t even r e f o r m i s t and p o t e n t i a l l y l oya l oppos i t i ons -d i s s i d e n t Marxis t s and s o c i a l i s t s , say, in th e Eas t e rn Europeancon tex t - - were gene ra l ly no t t o l e r a t e d and were prevented fromac t ing in o v e r t l y p o l i t i c a l ways.

10


13/48

n o t a l t o g e t h e r a b s e n t among E a s t e r n European d i s s i d e n t s ( s e e

To c q u e v i l l e 1980 , p p . 216-217) .

S u c c e s s f u l r e v o l u t i o n a r y o p p o s i t i o n s i n t h e Second and T h i r d

Worlds , a s t h i s l a s t o b s e r v a t i o n i n d i c a t e s , a l s o e x h i b i t a number

o f s t r i k i n g s i m i l a r i t i e s , a f a c t which i s p e r h a p s n o t s o

s u r p r i s i n g g i v e n t h e a f o r e m e n t i o n e d s i m i l a r i t i e s among t h e o l d

r e g i m e s t h a t t h e y opposed . J u s t a s c e r t a i n r eg ime t y p e s a r e

e s p e c i a l l y v u l n e r a b l e t o r e v o l u t i o n a r y over th row, so c e r t a i n

t y p e s o f r e v o l u t i o n a r y movements a r e e s p e c i a l l y l i k e l y t o

s u c c e e d ; more t h a n t h i s , c e r t a i n r eg ime t y p e s a c t u a l l y h e l p t o

c o n s t i t u t e , however u n w i t t i n g l y, t h e i r own g r a v e d i g g e r s . I n

f a c t , t h e o p p o s i t i o n a l movements i n E a s t e r n Europe i n 1989 , l i k e

most s u c c e s s f u l T h i r d World r e v o l u t i o n a r y movements, g e n e r a l l y

s h a r e d f i v e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s : They were (1) m u l t i - c l a s s movements

s o l i d i f i e d by (2) widespread a n g e r a g a i n s t s t a t e a u t h o r i t i e s and

by (3 ) a n t i - i m p e r i a l n a t i o n a l i s m o r p a t r i o t i s m and (4) l e d by

( c o n t e x t u a l l y ) r a d i c a l l e a d e r s h i p s w i t h (5) i m i t a t i v e ,

" r e a c t i v e , " and q u a s i - u t o p i a n i d e o l o g i e s . L e t me now e x p l o r e

some o f t h e s e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f r e v o l u t i o n a r y o p p o s i t i o n s i n

more d e t a i l .

While t h e o p p o s i t i o n a l movements i n E a s t e r n Europe were n o t

and , u n d e r t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s , c o u l d n o t be open ly o r g a n i z e d , t h e y

c l e a r l ydrew

on (1)b r o a d ,

m u l t i - c l a s sand,

i n some c a s e s , m u l t i

e t h n i c ( o r m u l t i - n a t i o n a l ) s u p p o r t and sympathy - - i n c l u d i n g

11


14/48

s u p p o r t from b o t h i n t e l l e c t u a l s and p r o d u c e r s . O o p p o s i t i o n t o

Communism, by a l l a c c o u n t s , was c e r t a i n l y n o t c o n f i n e d t o t h e

p o o r e s t o r mos t o p p r e s s e d segmen t s o f t h e s e s o c i e t i e s . The

e x t e n s i v e o p p o s i t i o n t oCommunism

was c h a r a c t e r i z e d and i ndeed" g l u e d " t o g e t h e r by (2) a widespread h o s t i l i t y f o c u s e d on

p o l i t i c a l a u t h o r i t i e s , a b r o a d l y s h a r e d a n g e r t h a t h e l p e d t o

" p a p e r o v e r " t h e l a t e n t c o n f l i c t s o f i n t e r e s t w i t h i n t h i s

o p p o s i t i o n . I n d e e d , wha t made p u b l i c a n g e r s o p o l i t i c a l l y

i m p o r t a n t i n E a s t e r n Europe was i t s p e r v a s i v e c h a r a c t e r a s w e l l

a s t h e f a c t t h a t i t was t a r g e t e d s p e c i f i c a l l y a t t h e p a r t y - s t a t e

a p p a r a t u s ( s e e Bunce and Chong 1990) .

Most p o l i t i c a l sys tems , by c o n t r a s t , i n c l u d i n g many t y p e s o f

a u t h o r i t a r i a n r e g i m e s , a r e s t r u c t u r e d i n ways which o b s c u r e o r

d e f l e c t s t a t e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r s o c i a l and economic c o n d i t i o n s

- - n o t l e a s t by l e a v i n g many a l l o c a t i o n d e c i s i o n s t o t h e

" i n v i s i b l e hand" o f t h e m a r k e t . Such d e f l e c t i o n , moreover, i s

n o t g e n e r a l l y r e g a r d e d a s i l l e g i t i m a t e g i v e n t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n a l

i n s u l a t i o n o f t h e p o l i t i c a l (o r " p u b l i c " ) and economic

( " p r i v a t e " ) s p h e r e s t h a t i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f c a p i t a l i s t

s o c i e t i e s , w h e t h e r d e m o c r a t i c o r a u t h o r i t a r i a n ( s e e Giddens 1987,

Ch . 5 ) . However, what Kaminski has te rmed " t h e f u s i o n p l r i n c i p l e "

o f s t a t e s o c i a l i s m - - t h a t i s , t h e f u s i o n o f t h e s t a t e and t h e

10 The e x c e p t i o n h e r e i s Hungary, where t h e work ing c l a s s wasr e l a t i v e l y p a s s i v e and m a rg i n a l t o t h e e v e n t s o f 1989 ( s e e Brown1991 , pp . 112-113 ; Fagan 1991; and Burawoy and Lukacs 1 9 9 2 ) .T h i s r e f l e c t s , i n p a r t , ho w f a r t h e economic r e f o r m s o f t h e Kadare r a w e n t t o w a r d s d e m o b i l i z i n g t h e work ing c l a s s a s w e l l a s t h el e g a c y o f t h e d e f e a t e d 1956 r e v o l u t i o n .

12


15/48

economy - - rendered th e s t a t e r e spons ib l e fo r a l l t h a t happened

in Eas t e rn Europe, whether good o r i l l , s i nce th e s t a t e c e n t r a l l y

planned , "owned," and d i s t r ib u t e d v i r t u a l l y a l l economic

r e sou rces (Kaminski 1991, p . 8 and ch. 1 ) . This encouraged th ep o l i t i c i z a t i o n and n a t i o n a l i z a t i o n of s t r u g g l e s ove r t h e

product ion and d i s t r i b u t i o n of goods; in f a c t , when p u b l i c s

became d i s s a t i s f i e d , t hey d id no t blame f a t e , themselves , or the

market t hey blamed th e c e n t r a l s t a t e (see Bunce and chong 1990

and Reich 1990, pp. 78-79).11 In the c r u c i a l P o l i s h e l e c t i o n s of

June 1989, fo r example, th e success o f S o l i d a r i t y in each

e l e c t o r a l d i s t r i c t (voivodship) was d i r e c t l y and s t r o n g l y r e l a t e d

no t so much t o th e p r i o r organ iza t iona l s t r e n g t h of S o l i d a r i t y in

th e d i s t r i c t as t o th e degree of ant i -government sent iment as

r e f l e c t e d i n th e propor t i on of vo te r s who r e j e c t e d a " n a t i o n a l

l i s t " of unopposed Communist candida tes (Heyns and Bia leck i 1991,

p .356) .

A s i m i l a r l og ic of oppos i t i on , I should no te , has been

encouraged i n th e Thi rd World con tex t by neopa t r imon ia l

d i c t a t o r s h i p s and by r a c i a l l y exc lus ionary c o l o n i a l reg imes .

These regimes a re no t only cha rac t e r i zed by a u t h o r i t a r i a n i s m , bu t

a l so by ex tens ive economic powers and modes o f i n t e r v e n t i o n ,

b l a t a n t p o l i t i c a l and economic favor i t i sm towards p r i v i l e g e d

11 The r e l a t i v e i s o l a t i o n of t hese systems from t h e l a rg e rg loba l c a p i t a l i s t economy a l so prevented th e development of angert a rg e t e d a t fo rces ou t s ide of th e Sov ie t bloc , such a s th eI n t e r n a t i o n a l Monetary Fund. So-ca l l ed "IMF r i o t s " have becomer a t h e r common, by c o n t r a s t , i n the Thi rd World ( see Walton andRagin 1990) .

13
http:///reader/full/78-79).11http:///reader/full/78-79).11


16/48

c l i e n t s , and p e r v a s i v e c o r r u p t i o n based on rac i sm a n d / o r

" c r o n y i s m . " A c c o r d i n g l y, t h e s e regime t y p e s a l s o u n i n t e n t i o n a l l y

f o c u s a wide a r r a y o f s o c i a l and economic g r i e v a n c e s upon t h e

s t a t e ( and t h e n c e t o i t s f o r e i g n b a c k e r s ) , s i n c e t h e s u c c e s s f u lr e s o l u t i o n o f soc ioeconomic s t r u g g l e s r e q u i r e s a r e d i s t r i b u t i o n

o f p o l i t i c a l power w i t h i n t h e s t a t e , i f n o t i t s a c t u a l over th row.

A number o f r e c e n t s t u d i e s have emphas ized t h e e x t r e m e l y broad

s o c i a l b a s e and n a t i o n a l i s t c h a r a c t e r o f r e v o l u t i o n s i n Vietnam,

A l g e r i a , Cuba, I r a n , and Nicaragua ( s e e , e . g . , G o l d s t o n e 1986,

Goodwin and Skocpo l 1989, F a r h i 1990 , H a l l i d a y 1991, Keddie 1992,

and Wickham-Crowley 1992) .

A v a r i e t y o f s o c i a l and economic g r i e v a n c e s , i n f a c t , have

become " n a t i o n a l i z e d " i n a doub le s e n s e w i t h i n t h e p a r t i c u l a r

Second and T h i r d World c o n t e x t s t h a t I have been d i s c u s s i n g : t o

b e g i n w i t h , g r i e v a n c e s t h a t migh t o t h e r w i s e r emain l o c a l i z e d o r

d i f f u s e a r e b o t h a g g r e g a t e d and c h a n n e l l e d , a s i t w e r e , t o w a r d s

t h e c e n t r a l s t a t e ; a t t h e same t i m e , such g r i e v a n c e s a r e a l s o

r e d i r e c t e d o r d i s p l a c e d , a t l e a s t i n p a r t , t o w a r d s t h e c o l o n i a l

o r hegemonic power t h a t u n d e r w r i t e s t h a t s t a t e . Thus , f o r

example , t h e economic c o n f l i c t s o f Angolan and Vie tnamese

p e a s a n t s w i t h l a n d l o r d s t e n d e d t o e s c a l a t e i n t o p o l i t i c a l

s t r u g g l e s w i t h t h e l o c a l P o r t u g u e s e and French c o l o n i a l s t a t e s

and , u l t i m a t e l y , i n t o n a t i o n a l i s t s t r u g g l e s w i t h t h e P o r t u g u e s e

and French m e t r o p o l i t a n s t a t e s (and t h e i r f o r e i g n a l l i e s ) ( s e e ,

e . g . , P a i g e 1975 , Ch . 4 - 5 ) . S i m i l a r l y, t h e q u o t i d i a n s t r u g g l e s

o f P o l i s h s h i p - b u i l d e r s i n v a r i a b l y e s c a l a t e d i n t o p o l i t i c a l

l4


17/48

c o n f l i c t s w i t h t h e P o l i s h Communist P a r t y and , u l t i m a t e l y , i n t o

n a t i o n a l i s t o p p o s i t i o n t o t h e P a r t y / s s o v i e t p a t r o n s . Given t h i s

p e c u l i a r l o g i c o f s o c i a l p r o t e s t , i t s h o u l d be n o t e d , i t i s a l l

b u t i m p o s s i b l e t o weigh w i t h any p r e c i s i o n t h e e x t e n t t o whichSecond and T h i r d World r e v o l u t i o n s have been p r e d o m i n a n t l y

" s o c i o e c o n o m i c , " " p o l i t i c a l , " o r " n a t i o n a l i s t " i n n a t u r e ; t h e

p o i n t i s t h a t c e r t a i n t y p e s o f r eg imes i n e x t r i c a b l y meld a l l o f

t h e s e a n a l y t i c t y p e s o f g r i e v a n c e s o r o p p o s i t i o n , which i s

p r e c i s e l y one o f t h e i r p r i n c i p a l weaknesses .

R e v o l u t i o n a r y movements i n E a s t e r n Europe , t h e n , were a l s o

c h a r a c t e r i z e d by (3) n a t i o n a l i s t o r p a t r i o t i c o p p o s i t i o n t o

d o m i n a t i o n by a f o r e i g n power, i n t h i s c a s e t h e S o v i e t Union .

"Amids t [ t h e i r ] d i f f e r e n t t r a d i t i o n s and h i s t o r i e s , " Wil l i am

Echikson h a s n o t e d , "one s t r o n g common f a c t o r u n i t e s t h e E a s t e r n

European c o u n t r i e s - - t h e i r s m a l l n e s s , t h e i r f r a g i l i t y , [ and]t h e i r p r e o c c u p a t i o n w i t h o b t a i n i n g r e a l i ndependence" (Ech ikson

1990 , p . 3 1 ) . I n a d d i t i o n , (4 ) most o f t h e l e a d e r s o f t h e

E a s t e r n European o p p o s i t i o n were , a t l e a s t by 1989 an d i n t h e

p a r t i c u l a r c o n t e x t i n which t h e y found t h e m s e l v e s , d e c i d e d l y

" r a d i c a l , " t h a t i s , a d h e r e n t s o f an i d e o l o g y and o u t l o o k

f u n d a m e n t a l l y a t odds w i t h t h e s t a t u s quo, an o u t l o o k r e f l e c t e d ,

above a l l , i n t h e l i b e r a l l anguage o f human r i g h t s and economic

p r i v a t i z a t i o n ( s e e , e . g . , J u d t 1988, pp . 191-195 , and S c r u t o n

1988a and 1 9 8 8 b ) . F i n a l l y , (5) t h e dominan t o u t l o o k o f t h e

l e a d e r s o f t h e E a s t e r n European o p p o s i t i o n , l i k e t h a t o f t h e i r

T h i r d World c o u n t e r p a r t s , i s s t r i k i n g l y " r e a c t i v e , 1 I i m i t a t i v e ,

15


18/48

and , a s ment ioned above , r a t h e r u t o p i a n - - i n many ways , i n f a c t ,a s i m p l e i n v e r s i o n o f t h e i d e o l o g y o f " r e a l e x i s t i n g s o c i a l i s m . "

"With a l l t h e f u s s and n o i s e , " F r a n c o i s F u r e t (among o t h e r s ) h a s

a p t l y n o t e d , " n o ta

s i n g l e ne w i d e a has come o u t o f E a s t e r nEurope i n 1989" (quo ted i n Dahrendor f 1990, p . 2 7 ) . Gar ton Ash,

wh o n o t e s t h a t "The i d e a s whose t ime h a s come a r e o l d , f a m i l i a r ,

w e l l t e s t e d o n e s , " s u g g e s t s t h a t " t h e f r e e m a r k e t i s t h e l a t e s t

C e n t r a l European u t o p i a , " "a c u r e f o r a l l i l l s , s o c i a l and

p o l i t i c a l a s w e l l a s economic" (Gar ton Ash 1990 , p p . 154 , 1 5 2 ) .

The r e a s o n f o r t h i s i s p r o b a b l y q u i t e s i m p l e : s o - c a l l e d

" b o u rg e o i s " l i b e r a l i s m and f r e e - m a r k e t c a p i t a l i s m i s a p p e a l i n g i n

E a s t e r n E u r o p e , e s p e c i a l l y a l t h o u g h n o t e x c l u s i v e l y t o

i n t e l l e c t u a l s , p r i n c i p a l l y b e c a u s e , l i k e Marxism-Leninism and t h e

" S o v i e t model" i n t h e T h i r d World o f t h e n o t - s o - d i s t a n t p a s t , i t

seems t o r e p r e s e n t a v i a b l e a l t e r n a t i v e , a t once p r a c t i c a l and

m o r a l l y s u p e r i o r t o a c l e a r l y i n s u p p o r t a b l e s t a t u s quo - - an

a l t e r n a t i v e , moreover, t h a t seems t o have s u c c e e d e d i n wha t a r e

r e g a r d e d , w i t h n o t a l i t t l e w i s h f u l t h i n k i n g , a s s i m i l a r l y

s i t u a t e d c o u n t r i e s . Like T h i r d World r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s , moreover,

t h e l e a d e r s o f t h e E a s t e r n European o p p o s i t i o n t e n d t o v iew t h e

r e l a t i v e backwardness o f t h e i r s o c i e t i e s p r i m a r i l y i f n o t

e x c l u s i v e l y a s a r e s u l t o f a l a r g e r sys tem o f i m p e r i a l domina t ion

and , c o n s e q u e n t l y, b e l i e v e t h a t such backwardness c an be overcome

s i m p l y by s w i t c h i n g g e o p o l i t i c a l a l l e g i a n c e s and "wor ld s y s t e m s , "

a d e t e r m i n a t i o n r e f l e c t e d i n c a l l s f o r a " r e t u r n t o E u r o p e . "

l6


19/48

Revolu t ionary mobi l iza t ion i n both t he Second and Third

Worlds i s l i nked t o th e p o l i t i c s o f hegemonic powers i n y e t

another way_ In t h e Third World, r evo lu t iona ry change has been

p o s s i b l e when c o l o n i a l or neo -co lon ia l powers a t l a s t grew weary

of th e high c o s t s of empire , a l though t h i s t y p i c a l l y d id n o t

occur u n t i l a f t e r long and bloody wars of counter insurgency

aroused oppos i t i on with in th e metropol i tan power ' s domes t ic

popu la t ion (cases inc lude , among o the r s , t he French i n Indochina

and Alger i a , th e un i t ed Sta tes in South Vietnam, and t h e

Portuguese in A f r i c a ) . In Eas te rn Europe, s i m i l a r l y, a

r e v o l u t i o n a r y break through a t l a s t became p o s s i b l e when th e

Sov ie t union grew weary o f th e high cos t s of i t s empire . 12

Nei ther Sov ie t fo rces in Eas te rn Europe nor (neo )co lon ia l t roops

in t h e Third World, i n o the r words, were m i l i t a r i l y e x p e l l e d ; th e

dec i s ion t o withdraw them came, r a t h e r , a f t e r th e p r o g r e s s i v e

a t t r i t i o n of t h e i r governments ' p o l i t i c a l and economic capac i ty

t o deploy them ( see Mack 1977, p . 177) . As many a n a l y s t s have

noted , moreover, Gorbachev 's reform p o l i c i e s a t home and h i s

abandonment o f t h e "Brezhnez doc t r ine" abroad both demoral ized

conse rva t ive Communist l eade r s in Eas te rn Europe and i nv igo ra t ed

t h e i r opponents i n s i d e as wel l as ou t s ide of t h e r u l i n g p a r t i e s .

Communism i n Eastern Europe, i n o the r words, wa s de leg i t ima ted

"from above and ou t s ide" as wel l as "from below." Th ei n c r e a s i n g l y c l e a r unders tanding t h a t oppos i t i ona l a c t i v i t i e s

12 On th e t r ans fo rma t ion o f t h e Sovie t Union ' s Eas te rnEuropean empire from a s s e t t o l i a b i l i t y , see Bunce 1985 and 1989.

17


20/48

would b e t o l e r a t e d and p e r h a p s even welcomed by t h e S o v i e t

l e a d e r s h i p o n l y s e r v e d t o f u e l p o p u l a r o p p o s i t i o n a l movements i n

E a s t e r n Europe t h r o u g h t h e c o u r s e o f 1989, p r o d u c i n g what one

o b s e r v e r h a s t e rmed a " r e v o l u t i o n a r y bandwagon" a s p r e v i o u s l y

h idden o r " f a l s i f i e d " p o l i t i c a l p r e f e r e n c e s c o u l d be o p e n l y

e x p r e s s e d ( s e e Kuran 1991, p . 3 6 ) .

I n summar iz ing t h i s b r i e f and n e c e s s a r i l y s c h e m a t i c a n a l y s i s

o f t h e s i m i l a r i t i e s be tween Second and T h i r d World r e v o l u t i o n s ,

i t b e a r s r e e m p h a s i z i n g t h a t i n t h e Second World no l e s s t h a n t h e

T h i r d , i n d i s c r i m i n a t e l y r e p r e s s i v e and h i g h l y autonomous r e g i m e s

s u p p o r t e d by f o r e i g n powers have p r o v i d e d an unambiguous "common

enemy" a g a i n s t which a b r o a d , m u l t i - c l a s s and p a t r i o t i c

o p p o s i t i o n , i n f u s e d by a r e a c t i v e l y " r a d i c a l ll and q u a s i - u t o p i a n

i d e o l o g y, c o a l e s c e d . Throughou t E a s t e r n Europe , G a r t o n Ash h as

n o t e d , " s t r e s s was l a i d on t h e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s u n i t y o f

i n t e l l i g e n t s i a , w o r k e r s and p e a s a n t s . Of c o u r s e i n p a r t t h i s

u n i t y was c r e a t e d by t h e common enemy . . . [T]hey were a l l

u n i t e d by c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f t h e one g r e a t d i v i d e be tween t h e

communis t u p p e r / r u l i n g c l a s s , t h e n o m e n k l a t u r a , and a l l t h e r e s t l l

(Gar ton Ash 1990 , p . 1 4 6 ) . I n P o l a n d , f o r example , t h e

r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f t h e i n t e l l i g e n t s i a , w o r k e r s , and p e a s a n t s

w i t h i n S o l i d a r i t y " i d e n t i f i e d t h e m s e l v e s a s s imply ' t h e s o c i e t y , "

s p o l e c z e n s t w o , a s one s i n g l e ' u s ' a g a i n s t ' t h e m ' ( o n i ) " (Gar ton

Ash 1991 , p . 5 0 ) . I n c z e c h o s l o v a k i a , s i m i l a r l y , d u r i n g t h e

c r u c i a l g e n e r a l s t r i k e o f November 27, 1989,

The two main , o f t e n o p p o s i n g , t r e n d s i n Czechos lovakp o l i t i c s - - t h e i n t e l l e c t u a l " l i b e r a l " and t h e w o r k e r

18


21/48

" s o c i a l i s t " - - had j o i n e d i n t h e i r d i s g u s t w i t h t h e r eg imet h a t had r u l e d f o r t w e n t y y e a r s . J u s t a s i m p o r t a n t , t h ed e m o n s t r a t i o n s i n S l o v a k i a showed t h a t t h e Czechs andS l o v a k s , t h e two n a t i o n s o f C z e c h o s l o v a k i a , o f t e n a t oddsw i t h one a n o t h e r , had j o i n e d i n o p p o s i t i o n . (Brown 1991,p . 1 7 8 . )

T h i s s e n s e o f a b r o a d , p o p u l a r "us" p i t t e d a g a i n s t an a l i e n

" t h e m , " I have s u g g e s t e d , h a s n o t o n l y been a r t i c u l a t e d a g a i n s t

s t a t e s o c i a l i s m i n t h e Second World , b u t a l s o a g a i n s t

p e r s o n a l i s t i c d i c t a t o r s h i p s and r a c i a l l y e x c l u s i o n a r y c o l o n i a l i s m

i n t h e T h i r d World . I would p r o p o s e , t h e r e f o r e , t h a t i t h a s been

e x t e r n a l l y d e p e n d e n t and d o m e s t i c a l l y autonomous a u t h o r i t a r i a n

r e g i m e s which a r e s t r o n g l y " f u s e d " w i t h economic i n s t i t u t i o n s

t h a t have p roduced t h e i r own g r a v e d i g g e r s - - n o t c a p i t a l i s m o r

s o c i a l i s m p e r s e . What c o l l a p s e d i n E a s t e r n Europe was n o t

s o c i a l i s m , i n o t h e r words , b u t a t y p e o f d e p e n d e n t s t a t e

s o c i a l i s m - - j u s t a s wha t c o l l a p s e d i n t h e T h i r d World h a s n o t

been c a p i t a l i s m o r even "backward" c a p i t a l i s m , b u t a u t h o r i t a r i a n

modes o f c o l o n i a l o r "c rony" c a p i t a l i s m .

I I . D i f f e r e n c e s : The P r o c e s s o f R e v o l u t i o n and t h e Q u e s t i o n o fVi o l e n c e

B e f o r e t u r n i n g t o d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e p r o c e s s e s o f Second and

T h i r d World r e v o l u t i o n s , one s i m i l a r i t y m i g h t be n o t e d . As t h e

p r e v i o u s s e c t i o n i m p l i e s , t h e i n i t i a l s u c c e s s o f o p p o s i t i o n a l

movements i n E a s t e r n Europe ( c u l m i n a t i n g i n t h e c o l l a p s e o f t h e

o l d r e g i m e s ) , a s i n c a s e s o f s u c c e s s f u l r e v o l u t i o n i n t h e T h i r d

World , i s b e s t u n d e r s t o o d n o t a s t h e handiwork o f a " r i s i n g

19


22/48

c l a s s " so much a s a m u l t i - c l a s s , n a t i o n a l o r " s o c i e t a l " s t r u g g l e

a g a i n s t a commonly d e s p i s e d autonomous s t a t e . Of c o u r s e , once

t h e o l d r eg ime h a s been t o p p l e d , a l l s o r t s o f l a t e n t c o n f l i c t s

w i t h i n t h e r e v o l u t i o n a r y c o a l i t i o n , i n c l u d i n g c l a s s c o n f l i c t s andn a t i o n a l a n t a g o n i s m s , may emerge i n a more o v e r t form ( a s i s now

i n f a c t happen ing t h r o u g h o u t t h e r e g i o n ) , b u t t h e i n i t i a l

o v e r t h r o w o f t h e o l d o r d e r i n E a s t e r n Europe i s n o t u s e f u l l y

u n d e r s t o o d , i n my view, a s t h e p r o j e c t o f a d e t e r m i n a n t s o c i a l

c l a s s . u I n d e e d , t h e g r e a t i r o n y i s t h a t t h e " s u c c e s s f u l "

c o m p l e t i o n o f E a s t e r n E u r o p e ' s r e v o l u t i o n s a l o n g t h e i r c u r r e n t

t r a j e c t o r i e s w i l l r e s u l t i n t h e dominance o f a c l a s s , t h e

n a t i o n a l b o u r g e o i s i e , t h a t a s y e t h a r d l y e x i s t s 14

T h i s s i m i l a r i t y n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g , t h e r e a r e a t l e a s t two

s t r i k i n g d i f f e r e n c e s between t h e r e v o l u t i o n a r y p r o c e s s i n E a s t e r n

Europe and t h a t o f mos t s u c c e s s f u l T h i r d World r e v o l u t i o n s :

f i r s t , t h e s p o n t a n e o u s and p e a c e f u l n a t u r e o f t h e s t r i k e s and

d e m o n s t r a t i o n s o f 1988-89 and , second , t h e a b s e n c e o f c o u n t e r

r e v o l u t i o n a r y v i o l e n c e . As most a n a l y s t s have emphas ized , t h e

mass p r o t e s t s i n E a s t e r n Europe - - from t h e s t r i k e waves i nPoland i n 1988 t o t h e e v e n t s i n Romania i n December 1989 were

r e l a t i v e l y s p o n t a n e o u s and n o n - v i o l e n t n a t u r e , e s p e c i a l l y so i n

E a s t Germany, c z e c h o s l o v a k i a , and, a t l e a s t i n i t i a l l y , Romania.

U F o r an a t t e m p t t o t h e o r i z e t h e ou tcomes o f m u l t i - c l a s sr e v o l u t i o n s , s e e Foran and Goodwin 1993 ( f o r t h c o m i n g ) .

14 T h i s i s doub ly i r o n i c i n s o f a r a s t h e e a r l i e r " r e v o l u t i o n sfrom above and w i t h o u t " i n t h e r e g i o n were imposed i n t h e name o ft h e work ing c l a s s , a c l a s s which a l s o had l a r g e l y t o be c r e a t e d .

20


23/48

By c o n t r a s t , T h i r d World r e v o l u t i o n a r y movements have t y p i c a l l y

been o r g a n i z e d and l e d , u s u a l l y o v e r many y e a r s and even d e c a d e s ,

by t i g h t l y k n i t vanguard p a r t i e s and have r e l i e d h e a v i l y ,

a l t h o u g h n o t e x c l u s i v e l y , on a s t r a t e g y o f armed s t r u g g l e .

What a c c o u n t s f o r t h i s d i f f e r e n c e ? I n my v i e w, mass

p r o t e s t s i n E a s t e r n Europe c o u l d o n l y have been o f a r e l a t i v e l y

s p o n t a n e o u s and p e a c e f u l n a t u r e g i v e n t h e wa y i n which t h e h i g h l y

p e n e t r a t i v e and d e s p o t i c s t a t e s i n t h e r e g i o n impeded more

o rg a n i z e d a n d / o r v i o l e n t forms o f c o l l e c t i v e a c t i o n . I n d e e d , t h e

a d m i n i s t r a t i v e and m i l i t a r y s t r e n g t h and p e n e t r a t i v e c a p a c i t i e s

o f t h e E a s t e r n European r e g i m e s - - t h e i r t r emendous

" i n f r a s t r u c t u r a l " a s w e l l a s " d e s p o t i c " power, i n Michae l Mann ' s

t e r m s (Mann 1986 , p . 113) s e t s them a p a r t from mos t o f t h e ( i n

many ways s i m i l a r ) T h i r d World s t a t e s t o p p l e d by r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s

( s e e e s p e c i a l l y C s a n a d i 1990 and 1992 [ f o r t h c o m i n g ] ) . Moreover,

d e s p i t e t h e s e r i o u s economic d i f f i c u l t i e s d i s c u s s e d a b o v e , t h e

p o l i t i c a l c r i s e s i n E a s t e r n Europe i n 1989 d i d n o t e n t a i l t h e

d i s i n t e g r a t i o n o f t h e c o e r c i v e o r a d m i n i s t r a t i v e power o f t h e s e

s t a t e s , a s i n many o t h e r r e v o l u t i o n a r y s i t u a t i o n s . C e r t a i n l y ,

t h e s e s t a t e s d i d n o t l o s e t h e i r m o n o p o l i s t i c c o n t r o l o f t h e means

o f v i o l e n c e n o r d i d t h e i r means o f c o e r c i o n , s u r v e i l l a n c e , and

c o n t r o l d i s i n t e g r a t e - - o n l y t h e r u l i n g p a r t i e s ' p o l i t i c a l w i l l

t o employ them foundered i n 1989.I n t h e E a s t e r n European c o n t e x t , t h e n , t h e r e c o u l d be no

q u e s t i o n o f e s t a b l i s h i n g " l i b e r a t e d a r e a s " o r a s i t u a t i o n o f

" d u a l power" by f o r c e o f a rms , a s r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s have t y p i c a l l y

21


24/48

done i n t h e T h i r d World. T h i s was n o t j u s t a p r a g m a t i c d e c i s i o n

b a s e d on l i m i t e d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c a p a c i t i e s ( a l t h o u g h i t was

c e r t a i n l y t h a t ) , b u t a l s o a r e s u l t o f h i s t o r i c a l l e a r n i n g based

on p r e v i o u s c o n f r o n t a t i o n sw i t h

t h es t a t e .

TheHungar i an

r e v o l u t i o n o f 1956, f o r example , t a u g h t t h a t a s t r a t e g y o f armed

s t r u g g l e would be s u i c i d a l . "In r ~ t r o s p e c t , "a l e a d i n g E a s t

German d i s s i d e n t h a s w r i t t e n ,

I do n o t t h i n k t h a t t h e Honecker r eg ime c o u l d have beenover th rown by an a l t e r n a t i v e and fo rma l p o l i t i c a lp a r t y . I t c o u l d o n l y f a l l t o t h i s k i n d o f[ s p o n t a n e o u s ] p o p u l a r u p r i s i n g . A more o r g a n i s e d f o r c ewould have h ad i t s head chopped o f f a t once by t h e

s t a s i . (Reich 1990, p . 7 4 . )Only a v e r y fe w i n s t i t u t i o n s i n E a s t e r n Europe , moreover,

n o t a b l y t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n Poland and t h e L u t h e r a n Church i n

E a s t Germany, c o u l d p r o v i d e t h e f r e e " p u b l i c s p a c e " r e q u i r e d f o r

o rg a n i z e d o p p o s i t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s . C o n s e q u e n t l y, o p p o s i t i o n a l

groups l i k e C h a r t e r 77, c i v i c Forum, and P u b l i c A g a i n s t Vi o l e n c e

i n C z e c h o s l o v a k i a , New Forum i n E a s t Germany, and t h e Democra t i c

Forum and F r e e Democra ts i n Hungary were , i n c o m p a r a t i v e t e r m s ,

r a t h e r s m a l l and i n c o h e r e n t o r g a n i z a t i o n s t h a t o f t e n b r o u g h t

t o g e t h e r p e o p l e w i t h a wide v a r i e t y o f i d e o l o g i c a l and s t r a t e g i c

v i e w p o i n t s ( n o t e t h e p r e f e r e n c e f o r " f o r u m s " ) . 15 Even t h e

S o l i d a r i t y movement i n Poland , E a s t e r n E u r o p e ' s b e s t o r g a n i z e d

o p p o s i t i o n , was worse t h a n dec ima ted by t h e m a r t i a l law r eg ime ,

l o s i n g r o u g h l y f o u r - f i f t h s o f i t s membership . However

15 On t h e h e c t i c and impromptu a c t i v i t i e s o f C i v i c Forum, s e eGar ton Ash (1990, pp. 78-130) , who n o t e s t h a t i t s membershipr anged " f rom t h e n e o - T r o t s k y i s t P e t r Uhl t o t h e d e e p l yc o n s e r v a t i v e C a t h o l i c Vaclav Benda" (p . 8 6 ) .

22


25/48

w i d e s p r e a d , t h e n , o p p o s i t i o n t o Communism was n o t w e l l o rg a n i z e d

i n much o f E a s t e r n Europe . " c i v i l s o c i e t i e s " were emerg ing , b u t

s t i l l q u i t e weak.

I t s h o u l d a l s o be n o t e d t h a t t h e l a r g e l y p e a s a n t p o p u l a t i o n s

o f t h e T h i r d World o f t e n r e q u i r e , g i v e n t h e i r g e o g r a p h i c a l

d i s p e r s i o n a n d / o r s o c i a l a t o m i z a t i o n , t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n and

l e a d e r s h i p o f ( o r i g i n a l l y ) u r b a n - b a s e d p a r t i e s i f t h e y a r e t o

engage i n , o r a t l e a s t s u c c e s s f u l l y s u s t a i n , o p p o s i t i o n a l

movements on a n a t i o n a l o r s u p e r - l o c a l s c a l e . T h i s i s a t heme ,

f o r example , o f numerous s t u d i e s o f t h e Chinese and Vie tnamese

r e v o l u t i o n s ( s e e , e . g . , Moore 1966 , Ch . 4 ; Wolf 1969 , Ch. 3 - 4 ;

and S k o c p o l 1979, Ch. 3 , 7 ) . By c o n t r a s t , t h e much more u r b a n

and u r b a n e - - p o p u l a t i o n s o f E a s t e r n Europe had been

c o n c e n t r a t e d , homogenized , and e d u c a t e d , n o t t o s a y p o l i t i c i z e d ,

by f o u r d e c a d e s o f Communist r u l e . A c c o r d i n g l y, r e l a t i v e l y

l i t t l e fo rma l o r g a n i z a t i o n was needed t o b r i n g m a s s i v e numbers o f

a n g r y u r b a n p e o p l e i n t o t h e s t r e e t s o r , more t y p i c a l l y , i n t o

e a s i l y a c c e s s i b l e c e n t r a l p l a z a s . 16 Indeed , t h e r e i s more t h a n a

l i t t l e i r o n y i n t h e f a c t t h a t t h e l a r g e p u b l i c s p a c e s used o r

even c r e a t e d by t h e Communists f o r r i t u a l i z e d mass r a l l i e s would

p r o v e u s e f u l f o r t h e i r o p p o n e n t s .

B ut i t a l s o m a t t e r e d , o f c o u r s e , t h a t d e m o n s t r a t o r s were n o t

b e i n g s h o t i n t h e s t r e e t s . A second ma jo r d i f f e r e n c e be tween

16 S ee Opp and Gern 1992. With t h e e x c e p t i o n o f t h e 1979I r a n i a n R e v o l u t i o n , t h e r e v o l u t i o n s o f 1989-91 i n t h e fo rmerS o v i e t b l o c h a v e been t h e o n l y s u c c e s s f u l r e v o l u t i o n s i n h i s t o r yo f a more o r l e s s e x c l u s i v e l y u r b a n c h a r a c t e r .

23


26/48

Second and T h i r d World r e v o l u t i o n s , i n f a c t , h a s t o do w i t h t h e

i s s u e o f s t a t e v i o l e n c e . Most T h i r d World r e v o l u t i o n s , i t h a r d l y

needs e m p h a s i z i n g , have been c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a t r emendous amount

o f b l o o d s h e d , whereas t h e E a s t e r n European r e v o l u t i o n s n o t o n l y

o c c u r r e d p e a c e f u l l y f o r t h e most p a r t ( e x c e p t i n g Romania ) , b u t

a l s o d i d n o t g i v e r i s e t o v i o l e n t c o u n t e r - r e v o l u t i o n a r y

movements . Leav ing a s i d e t h e c a s e o f Romania, which I w i l l t u r n

t o l a t e r , t h e r e were two b a s i c p a t t e r n s o f change i n E a s t e r n

Europe i n 1989: Where t h e o p p o s i t i o n was c o m p a r a t i v e l y w e l l

o r g a n i z e d , a s i n Poland and Hungary, t r a n s i t i o n s from Communism

were t h e r e s u l t o f n e g o t i a t i o n s between t h e r eg ime and i t s

o p p o n e n t s . Where, on t h e o t h e r hand , t h e o p p o s i t i o n was

c o m p a r a t i v e l y weak (and t h e r eg ime , a c c o r d i n g l y, l e s s d i s p o s e d t o

c h a n g e ) , a s i n E a s t Germany and C z e c h o s l o v a k i a , Communists o n l y

c a p i t u l a t e d a f t e r mass ive s t r e e t d e m o n s t r a t i o n s and s t r i k e s .

N e i t h e r p a t t e r n , however, was c h a r a c t e r i z e d by s i g n i f i c a n t

c o u n t e r - r e v o l u t i o n a r y v i o l e n c e .

The u n u s u a l l y - - i ndeed u n i q u e l y - - p e a c e f u l n a t u r e o fr e v o l u t i o n a r y change i n E a s t e r n Europe i s o f c o u r s e due i n t h e

f i r s t i n s t a n c e t o t h e f a c t t h a t t h e i ncumben t r u l e r s t h e r e

u l t i m a t e l y engaged i n a f u l l - s c a l e r e t r e a t from power t h a t

a l l o w e d r a d i c a l change t o o c c u r unimpededly, whereas mos t

i ncumben t s i n t h e T h i r d World have f o u g h t f e r o c i o u s l y a g a i n s t

r e v o l u t i o n a r y movements, u s u a l l y a f t e r a s w e l l a s b e f o r e

r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s s e i z e d power. But i n E a s t e r n Europe , a s Gar ton

Ash n o t e s , " t h e r u l i n g e l i t e s , and t h e i r armed s e r v a n t s ,

24


27/48

d i s t i n g u i s h e d t h e m s e l v e s by t h e i r comprehens ive u n r e a d i n e s s t o

s t a n d up i n any wa y f o r t h e t h i n g s i n which t h e y had s o l ong

c l a i m e d t o b e l i e v e " (Gar ton Ash 1990, p . 1 4 2 ) . What e x a c t l y

e x p l a i n s t h i s c u r i o u s f a c t ? Why d i d E a s t e r n E u r o p e ' s Communist

r u l e r s c a p i t u l a t e s o r e a d i l y , f o r t h e mos t p a r t , i n 1989?

We s t i l l l a c k s u f f i c i e n t u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f what o c c u r r e d i n

Communist c i r c l e s i n 1989 t o a d d r e s s t h i s i s s u e a d e q u a t e l y

( a l t h o u g h s e e B r u s z t and s t a r k 1992 , C s a n a d i 1992 [ f o r t h c o m i n g ] ,

and Tarkowsk i 1992 [ f o r t h c o m i n g ] ) , b u t some c o m b i n a t i o n o f t h e

f o l l o w i n g s i x f a c t o r s seems t o e x p l a i n , f o r any p a r t i c u l a r

c o u n t r y, t h e r e l a t i v e l y p e a c e f u l n a t u r e o f t h e E a s t e r n European

r e v o l u t i o n s :

(1) Of f i r s t i m p o r t a n c e , o f c o u r s e , i s t h e "Gorbachev

f a c t o r . " As ment ioned above , t h e S o v i e t l e a d e r s h i p ' s w e a r i n e s s

o f empi re p r o v i d e d a n e c e s s a r y i f n o t s u f f i c i e n t c o n d i t i o n f o r

r e v o l u t i o n a r y c h a n g e . Gorbachev ' s abandonment o f t h e Brezhnev

d o c t r i n e mean t t h a t " e x t e r n a l g u a r a n t e e s o f p o l i t i c a l o r d e r were

e f f e c t i v e l y removed by t h e dominan t r e g i o n a l power" ( E k i e r t 1990 ,

p . 2 ) . Even more, Gorbachev a c t i v e l y encouraged E a s t e r n E u r o p e ' s

Communist r u l e r s t o r e f o r m . ( " L i f e i t s e l f p u n i s h e s t h o s e who

d e l a y , " he pronounced on h i s v i s i t t o t h e f o r t i e t h - a n n i v e r s a r y

c e l e b r a t i o n s o f t h e GDR on O c t o b e r 7 . ) G o r b a c h e v ' s re fo rmism

t o o k on added s i g n i f i c a n c e g i v e n t h e s t r u c t u r e o f t h e Warsaw

P a c t , which l e f t l i t t l e c o n t r o l o v e r t h e r e g i o n ' s a r m i e s t o

n a t i o n a l Communist p a r t i e s (a r e s u l t , i r o n i c a l l y , o f t h e S o v i e t

i n v a s i o n o f C z e c h o s l o v a k i a i n 1 9 6 8 ) . The r e s u l t , G a r t o n Ash

25


28/48

w i t t i l y c o n c l u d e s , was t h a t "Throughout E a s t C e n t r a l Europe , t h e

p e o p l e a t l a s t d e r i v e d some b e n e f i t from t h e i r r u l i n g e l i t e s '

c h r o n i c dependency on t h e s o v i e t un ion" (Gar ton Ash 1990 , p .

141) (For t h i s same r e a s o n , t h o s e e l i t e s i n t h e r e g i o n t h a twere l e a s t d e p e n d e n t on t h e S o v i e t s - - f o r example , i n Romania,

S e r b i a , and A l b a n i a - - proved more w i l l i n g t o employ c o e r c i o n

a g a i n s t t h e i r o p p o n e n t s . ) Gorbachev, i n s h o r t , c r e a t e d t h e s o r t

o f " p e r m i s s i v e wor ld c o n t e x t " f o r r e v o l u t i o n a r y change t h a t ha s

a l s o been i m p o r t a n t i n t h e T h i r d World ( s e e G o l d f r a n k 1979 and

Foran and Goodwin 1993 [ f o r t h c o m i n g ] ) .

(2) Second ly, some Communists undoub ted ly p e r c e i v e d

l i b e r a l i z a t i o n and open e l e c t i o n s n o t a s f o r c e s t h a t would sweep

them away, b u t a s e l e m e n t s o f a p u r e l y s t r a t e g i c r e t r e a t t h a t was

n e c e s s a r y - - and n o t f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e - - i n o r d e r t o h o l d on t o

t h e i r power and p r i v i l e g e s i n t h e l ong ru n ( see Tarkowsk i 1992

[ f o r t h c o m i n g ] ) . I n P o l a n d , f o r example , Communists - - a s w e l l a s

S o l i d a r i t y - - b e l i e v e d t h a t t h e y c o u l d win a t l e a s t s u f f i c i e n t

s u p p o r t i n c o n t e s t e d e l e c t i o n s t o form o r e n t e r i n t o a c o a l i t i o n

governmen t . By t h u s s h a r i n g d e m o c r a t i c a l l y l e g i t i m a t e d power -

and , t h e r e b y , r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r economic a u s t e r i t y - - t h e y seem

t o have c a l c u l a t e d t h a t t h e y c o u l d beg in t o r e p a i r t h e i r .

r e p u t a t i o n s , a t l e a s t r e l a t i v e t o t h a t o f t h e i r o p p o n e n t s . Of

c o u r s e , t h e s e c a l c u l a t i o n s proved o v e r l y o p t i m i s t i c , t o s a y t h e

l e a s t - - an i n d i c a t i o n o f how poor i s o l a t e d Communist r e g i m e s had

become a t comprehending p o p u l a r s e n t i m e n t - - b u t t h e y h e l p u s

u n d e r s t a n d why a t l e a s t some Communists behaved a s t h e y d i d .

26


29/48

Moreove r, where o p p o s i t i o n f o r c e s were e x c e p t i o n a l l y weak - - f o r

example , i n B u l g a r i a and A l b a n i a - - t h i s s t r a t e g y was a c t u a l l y

s u c c e s s f u l , a t l e a s t i n i t i a l l y ( s e e B r u s z t and S t a r k 1 9 9 2 ) .

Communist l e a d e r s , however, p r o f o u n d l y u n d e r e s t i m a t e d t h e

b r e a d t h o f t h e o p p o s i t i o n i n E a s t Germany, C z e c h o s l o v a k i a , and

Romania. M i r o s l a v S t e p a n , fo rmer head o f t h e Communist P a r t y i n

C z e c h o s l o v a k i a , l a t e r n o t e d t h a t "We were s u r e t h a t t h e s o - c a l l e d

o p p o s i t i o n d i d n o t m a t t e r , t h a t t h e y h a d n ' t found a 'Czech

Wa l e s a ' " (Schmemann 1990) . Of c o u r s e , M a r x i s t - L e n i n i s t s (and n o t

a few s o c i a l s c i e n t i s t s ) g e n e r a l l y have d i f f i c u l t y i m a g i n i n g

e f f e c t i v e mass movements i n t h e a b s e n c e o f s t r o n g o r g a n i z a t i o n

and l e a d e r s h i p ( see Piven and Cloward 1991) .

(3) I t h a s a l s o been s u g g e s t e d t h a t Communist l e a d e r s no

l o n g e r b e l i e v e d i n 1989 i n t h e i r own mora l r i g h t t o r u l e , i n p a r t

b e c a u s e o f t h e "yawning gap" be tween r e a l i t y and t h e M a r x i s t

L e n i n i s t i d e o l o g y t h a t s u c h l e a d e r s a t l e a s t r i t u a l i s t i c a l l y

u p h e l d (Burawoy and Lukacs 1992, p . 1 4 8 ) . Gar ton Ash, who r e f e r s

t o t h i s a s t h e " To c q u e v i l l e " f a c t o r , a rg u e s t h a t t h i s was

" p e r h a p s t h e u l t i m a t e l y d e c i s i v e f a c t o r " i n t h e Communi s t s '

d e c i s i o n n o t t o s u p p r e s s v i o l e n t l y t h e r e v o l u t i o n " f rom below"

(Gar ton Ash 1990 , p . 1 4 1 ) . I n f a c t , s p e c i a l i s t s on " p o s t

S t a l i n i s t " E a s t e r n Europe have l ong no ted " t h e i d e n t i t y c r i s i s

and d e r a d i c a l i z a t i o n o f t h e communis t p a r t i e s , t h e d i s i n t e g r a t i o n

o f t h e o f f i c i a l p o l i t i c a l d i s c o u r s e , and t h e t r a n s i t i o n from

l e g i t i m a t i o n c l a i m s based on M a r x i s t - L e n i n i s t i d e o l o g y t o o n e s

b a s e d on a p s e u d o - r e a l p o l i t i k w i t h s t r o n g n a t i o n a l i s t

27


30/48

u n d e r p i n n i n g s " ( E k i e r t 1990, p . 2 i s e e a l s o Wa l i c k i 1 9 9 1 ) . In

t h i s v iew, communis ts had abandoned any i d e o l o g i c a l , n o t t o s ay

m o r a l , r a t i o n a l e f o r t h e i r r u l e l ong b e f o r e 1 9 8 9 i what was ne w i n

1989 was t h a t t h e " r e a l i s t " r a t i o n a l e f o r Communist d o m i n a t i o n ,

t h a n k s t o Gorbachev, was a l s o unde rmined . By 1989, moreover, t h e

p e r c e n t a g e o f o p p o r t u n i s t s and t e c h n o c r a t s a s opposed t o " t r u e

b e l i e v e r s " was undoub ted ly q u i t e h i g h w i t h i n Communist r a n k s ,

e s p e c i a l l y i n th e Czechoslovak and E a s t German p a r t i e s . " [ T ] h e

p r o f e s s i o n a l i z a t i o n o f t h e b u r e a u c r a t i c c l a s s and t h e r i s e o f an

e d u c a t e d e l i t e mean t l e s s t o l e r a n c e f o r t h e p a t e n t c o n t r a d i c t io n s

between i d e o l o g y and r e a l i t y " (Burawoy and Lukacs 1992, p . 1 4 8 ) .

(4) Many i f n o t most Communist l e a d e r s , f u r t h e r m o r e , a l s o

p r o b a b l y saw no p r a c t i c a l a l t e r n a t i v e t o n e g o t i a t i o n a n d / o r

c a p i t u l a t i o n i n 1989. R e p r e s s i o n o f s t r i k e s and d e m o n s t r a t i o n s

o r e l e c t o r a l f r a u d , t h a t i s , d o e s n o t seem t o have been p e r c e i v e d

by mos t Communists a s f e a s i b l e , g i v e n t h e s t a r t l i n g b r e a d t h o f

t h e o p p o s i t i o n .n

Economic s t a g n a t i o n meant t h a t i n t e l l e c t u a l s

and w o r k e r s c o u l d no l o n g e r be p l a y e d o f f a g a i n s t one a n o t h e r , a s

was o f t e n p o s s i b l e i n t h e p a s t . Moreover, t h e l o y a l t y o f t h e

armed f o r c e s t o communis t r u l e , a s N i c o l a e Ceausescu was t o

d i s c o v e r i n December, c o u l d by no means be t a k e n f o r g r a n t e d ,

p a r t i c u l a r l y i f t h e y were asked t o a t t a c k huge c rowds - - and

17 I n a d d i t i o n , some communi s t s , i n P o l a n d , Hungary, andRomania, f o r example , seem t o have p e r c e i v e d i n t h e e v e n t s o f1989 a s an o p p o r t u n i t y t o a c t i n e f f e c t a s " p a t r i o t s " v i s - a - v i st h e S o v i e t Union a n d / o r l o c a l " h a r d l i n e r s . " T h i s was n o t a s m a l lc o n s i d e r a t i o n i n Hungary, f o r i n s t a n c e , g iven t h e i n f e s t a t i o n o fr e f o r m e r s w i t h i n t h e r a n k s o f t h e Communist p a r t y .

Z8


31/48


32/48

movements in th e Third World) was unarmed. The corpora te

i n t e g r i t y of th e armed fo rces and s t a t e admin i s t r a t ion ,

t he re fo re , wa s no t immediate ly t h rea t ened by th e oppos i t i on i n a

way t h a t might have provoked a v i o l e n t backlash .20

(6 ) A f i n a l r e l e v a n t f a c t o r f o r unders tanding t h e f u l l - s c a l e

communist c a p i t u l a t i o n i n 1989 i s t h e s o - c a l l e d

ttembourgeoisement" o r " s e l f - p r i v a t i z a t i o n " o f th e Communist e l i t e

dur ing t h e l a t e 1980s:

Ins t ead of t ry ing t o br ing r e a l i t y i n to conformi ty wi thideology, i t has . . sought t o r e c o n s t i t u t e i t s e l f under anew ideo logy which embraces f r e e e n t e r p r i s e r a t h e r than

s t a t e r e g u l a t i o n , t h e market r a t h e r than th e p l a n . Ins t eadof t r y i n g t o make soc ia l i sm work, i n s t ead o f t r y i n g t o gives o c i a l i s t c la ims a m a t e r i a l b a s i s , i t tu rned t o a newideo logy. (Burawoy and Lukacs 1992, p. 148.)

Many educa ted and oppor tun i s t i c pa r ty members, i n f a c t ,

p a r t i c u l a r l y younger t echnoc ra t s and p r o f e s s i o n a l s , d i d not view

reform, and t h e t r a n s i t i o n t o a p r i v a t e , market economy i n

p a r t i c u l a r , as a t h r e a t t o t h e i r ca ree r s bu t , on t h e c o n t r a r y, as

a way of improving t h e i r income and s t a t u s . In czechos lovakia ,i n f a c t , more than a hundred j o i n t product ion ven tu res with

Western companies were underway by mid-1986 - - th e permi t t ed

fo re ign sha re o f equ i ty having been r a i s e d from 40 t o 49 percen t

(Brown 1991, p. 157) . In Poland, " p r i v a t i z a t i o n from abmve" was

begun in 1987, two years before th e f a l l of t h e communist

government (S tan i szk i s 1991, p. 128) . Consequent ly, t h e r eac t ive

20 In f a c t , only a handfu l of communist o f f i c i a l s andf u n c t i o n a r i e s have been a r res t ed t hus f a r th roughout t h e whole ofEas tern Europe, and only Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu have beenexecuted - - and they, of course , under excep t iona l c i rcumstances .

30


33/48

" r a d i c a l i z a t i o n " o f t h e o p p o s i t i o n i n E a s t e r n Europe - - which ,

i r o n i c a l l y , amounted t o a p a r a l l e l p r o c e s s o f embourgeoisement

t o o k on added s i g n i f i c a n c e : t h e o p p o s i t i o n ' s g r a d u a l a d o p t i o n o f

an u n a l l o y e d p r o - c a p i t a l i s t i d e o l o g y and c o n c o m i t a n t abandonment

o f such e a r l i e r i d e a l s a s " s o c i a l i s m w i t h a human f a c e , " m a r k e t

s o c i a l i s m , and w o r k e r s ' se l f -management - - t h e l a s t " t h e p i v o t a l

component" o f t h e S o l i d a r i t y movement ' s programme o n l y a decade

ago ( F i e l d s 1991, p . 106; s e e a l s o Mason 1989, p p . 5 4 - 5 5 , and O st

1989) - - s e r v e d t o undermine whatever o p p o s i t i o n t h a t t e c h n o c r a t s

and p r o f e s s i o n a l s w i t h i n t h e nomenk la tu ra migh t o t h e r w i s e have

mounted a g a i n s t " r a d i c a l " change.

T h i s f a c t o r , moreover, c l e a r l y d i s t i n g u i s h e s E a s t e r n

E u r o p e ' s Communist r u l e r s ( o r, a t l e a s t , a s U b s t a n t i a l f r a c t i o n

t h e r e o f ) f rom o t h e r e l i t e s t h a t have c o n f r o n t e d r e v o l u t i o n a r y

movements, i n t h e T h i r d World and e l s e w h e r e . R e v o l u t i o n s , a f t e r

a l l , have by t h e i r very n a t u r e t h r e a t e n e d t h e e n t i r e "way o f

l i f e " (economic a s w e l l a s p o l i t i c a l ) - - i f n o t t h e v e r y l i v e s

o f r U l i n g and p r i v i l e g e d e l i t e s ; hence t h e u n m i t i g a t e d v i o l e n c e

with which mos t such e l i t e s have g r e e t e d r e v o l u t i o n a r y movements.

But i f r U l i n g e l i t e s , o r a t l e a s t power fu l segments t h e r e o f , c an

a c t u a l l y e x p e c t t o t h r i v e under r a d i c a l l y a l t e r e d c i r c u m s t a n c e s ,

t h e n t h e r a t i o n a l e f o r c o u n t e r - r e v o l u t i o n a r y v i o l e n c e d i s a p p e a r s .

I n t h e E a s t e r n European c o n t e x t , a s long a s t h e n o m e n k l a t u r a ' s

e x p l o i t a t i o n o f s t a t e r e s o u r c e s and o f t h e i r own t e c h n i c a l

knowledge was s t r i c t l y dependen t on t h e r e t e n t i o n o f p o l i t i c a l

a u t h o r i t y - - a s l o n g , i n o t h e r words , a s ownersh ip and r u l e r s h i p

31


34/48

were f u s e d and c o l l e c t i v i z e d - - t h e n v i o l e n t o p p o s i t i o n t o

d e m o c r a t i c change c o u l d be e x p e c t e d t o f o l l o w. B ut o n c e t h o s e

r e s o u r c e s and s k i l l s were p r i v a t i z e d and made m a r k e t a b l e , a n o n

v i o l e n t t r a n s i t i o n t o c a p i t a l i s m became f e a s i b l e . Elemer Hank i s s

n o t e s t h a t when t h e nomenk la tu ra i n Hungary d i s c o v e r e d i n t h e

l a t e 1980s " t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f t r a n s f e r r i n g t h e i r power i n t o a

ne w and more e f f i c i e n t s o c i o - e c o n o m i c s y s t e m and o f becoming p a r t

o f an e m e rg i n g ne w and l e g i t i m a t e r u l i n g c l a s s o r g r a n d e

b o u r g e o i s i e , t h e y l o s t t h e i r i n t e r e s t i n k e e p i n g t h e Communist

P a r t y a s t h e i r i n s t r u m e n t o f power and p r o t e c t i o n " (Hank i s s 1990 ,

p . 3 1 ) . "Making owners o f t h e n o m e n k l a t u r a , " a s J a d w i g a

S t a n i s z k i s p u t s i t , "may have . . . h e l p e d t o e l i m i n a t e t h e

n o m e n k l a t u r a a s a p o l i t i c a l mechanism" ( S t a n i s z k i s 1 9 9 1 , p . 1 3 9 ) .

I n s h o r t , i f t h e l o n g - t e r m f u s i o n o f owners and r u l e r s i n E a s t e r n

Europe s e r v e d t o n a t i o n a l i z e and r a d i c a l i z e d i s s e n t an d

o p p o s i t i o n , t h e n t h e l a s t - m i n u t e d i sengagemen t o f economic and

p o l i t i c a l a u t h o r i t y , however p a r t i a l , h e l p e d t o e n s u r e ( a l o n g , o f

c o u r s e , w i t h t h e S o v i e t d i s e n g a g e m e n t from t h e r e g i o n ) t h a t

r a d i c a l c h a n g e would o c c u r p e a c e f u l l y . T h i s i s n o t t o s a y t h a t

pos t -Communi s t economies i n E a s t e r n Europe w i l l b e owned and

managed p r i m a r i l y by ex-Communis t s , b u t t h a t s u c h economies a r e

l i k e l y t o p r o v i d e a r e l a t i v e l y " s o f t l a n d i n g " f o r t h e r e g i o n ' s

f o r m e r r u l e r s .

32


35/48

I I I . Romanian " E x c e p t i o n a l i s m " : The C o l l a p s e o f N e o p a t r i m o n i a lS o c i a l i s m

The c a s e o f Romania p r e s e n t s someth ing o f a p a r a d o x : on t h e

one hand , t h e p r o c e s s o f change t h e r e was a p p a r e n t l y t h e most

" r e v o l u t i o n a r y " among t h e E a s t e r n European c a s e s , c h a r a c t e r i z e d

a s i t was by t h e b r i e f b u t b loody c o n f r o n t a t i o n be tween t h e

p o p u l a t i o n , soon j o i n e d by t h e army, and t h e Ceausescu r eg ime .

I n d e e d , i n Romania f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e i n h i s t o r y a "Communist"

r eg ime was a p p a r e n t l y s u c c e s s f u l l y over th rown t h r o u g h f o r c e o f

arms and t h e Communist P a r t y i t s e l f ( u n l i k e t h o s e e l s e w h e r e i n

t h e r e g i o n ) o u t l a w e d . On t h e o t h e r hand, t h e i m m e d i a t e outcome

o f t h e e v e n t s o f December 1989 was t h e l e a s t r e v o l u t i o n a r y among

t h e E a s t e r n European c a s e s c h a r a c t e r i z e d by p o p u l a r r e v o l t , s i n c e

t h o s e e v e n t s produced a gove rnmen t domina ted by p e o p l e w i t h more

o r l e s s s t r o n g t i e s t o t h e Romanian Communist P a r t y (RCP); hence ,

t h e Romanian " r e v o l u t i o n " d i d n o t l e a d t o an unambiguous b r e a k

w i t h t h e p a s t . 21 The " r e v o l u t i o n a r y " p r o c e s s i n Romania i s

c e r t a i n l y f a m i l i a r t o s t u d e n t s o f T h i r d World r e v o l u t i o n s . T h i s

s h o u l d n o t be s u r p r i s i n g , s i n c e t h e Ceausescu r e g i m e - - which h a s

been dubbed a c a s e o f " d y n a s t i c s o c i a l i s m " (Georgescu 1988) o r

" s o c i a l i s m i n one f a m i l y " (de F l e r s 1984) - - was n o t by any means

a t y p i c a l Communist p a r t y - s t a t e , b u t more n e a r l y a n e o

p a t r i m o n i a l , p e r s o n a l i s t d i c t a t o r s h i p , a t y p e o f r e g i m e , I have

n o t e d , t h a t h a s proven e s p e c i a l l y v u l n e r a b l e t o r e v o l u t i o n a r y

21 My u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e e v e n t s o f 1989 i n Romania i s b a s e dg e n e r a l l y , i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e s o u r c e s c i t e d , on Campeanu 1991,Codrescu 1991 , R a t e s h 1991, and Verde ry and Kligman 1992.

33


36/48

o v e r t h r o w i n t h e T h i r d World . n However, i t mus t be s a i d t h a t

t h e e v e n t s i n Romania i n December 1989 b e a r l e s s r e s e m b l a n c e t o

t h e Mexican , Cuban, I r a n i a n , o r N i c a r a g u a n r e v o l u t i o n s a g a i n s t

n e o p a t r i m o n i a l r u l e t h a n t o t h e e v e n t s i n H a i t i i n 1986 t h a tr e s u l t e d i n t h e f l i g h t o f t h e d i c t a t o r J e a n - C l a u d e "Baby Doc"

D u v a l i e r , b u t n o t i n a g e n u i n e s o c i a l r e v o l u t i o n . L i k e H a i t i , i n

f a c t , Romania h a s e x p e r i e n c e d s o m e t h i n g o f a " h a l f - w a y " o r

" a b o r t e d " r e v o l u t i o n ( s e e F i s c h e r 1990 and G i l b e r g 1 9 9 0 ) . The

s p o n t a n e o u s p r o t e s t s o f December ( l i k e e a r l i e r p r o t e s t s i n H a i t i )

were s u f f i c i e n t l y w i d e s p r e a d t o c a u s e t h e a r m y ' s d e f e c t i o n , and

t h u s a s s u r e t h e d i c t a t o r ' s d o w n f a l l , b u t t h e y were n o t s t r o n g

enough n o r s u f f i c i e n t l y w e l l o rg a n i z e d , a s e l s e w h e r e i n E a s t e r n

Europe , t o t h r u s t t h e i r own r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s i n t o p o s i t i o n s o f

power. I n s t e a d , s t a t e power was r e c o n s o l i d a t e d by d i s s i d e n t (and

n o t - s o - d i s s i d e n t ) members o f t h e RCP and t h e n a t i o n a l army

grouped i n t o t h e s o - c a l l e d N a t i o n a l S a l v a t i o n F r o n t , a n e n t i t y

t h a t d i d h a v e t h e s o l i d a r i t y and c o n n e c t i o n s , n o t t o m e n t i o n t h e

g u n s , t o t a k e power. The r e s u l t i s a "neo-Communis t" r e g i m e , a s

i t s o p p o n e n t s h a v e l a b e l l e d i t , j u s t a s t h e D u v a l i e r r e g i m e i n

H a i t i was f o l l o w e d by a " n e o - D u v a l i e r i s t " r eg ime . 23

22 See G o l d s t o n e 1986 , Goodwin and Skocpo l 1989 , and WickhamCrowley 1992 , Ch. 11 , on t h e s e v u l n e r a b i l i t i e s ; on R o m a n i a ' s" s o c i a l i s t p a t r i m o n i a l i s m , " s e e Linden 1986, Georgescu 1988,Tismaneanu 1989, and F i s c h e r 1990.

23 The N a t i o n a l S a l v a t i o n F r o n t i s n o t "neo-Communis t"b e c a u s e i t i s a t t e m p t i n g t o r e t a i n a l l

owners, rulers, & rebels: revolution in the second & third worlds (pcee 26, 1992) jeff goodwin

Documents