What knowledge do you have about East Central and Eastern Europe? What stories have you encounter in the news recently? What topics does media like to cover? How much is the perception of the region biased by that?
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine the East Central and Eastern European Regions get more media attention than in decades prior. The rise in the number of academic panels on the causes of the war shows the increased desire for understanding. Other well covered topic is the various controversies between western and eastern member states of the European Union, where the latter disrespect common democratic values and interests (Link1, Link2, Link3). From that covarage we learn: young democracies of the East had failed. Explanatory models vary, some link state socialism to authoritarian populism as a continuality of authoritarian regimes caused by undemocratic cultures (see Scheiring, 2019:26-28).
To check the validity of such explanations, it is inevitable to investigate the social history of East Central and Eastern Europe. The point of departure is the 1989/90 Democratic Transition from state socialism to the so-called post-communism: the implementation of market capitalism and the integration in the world market as a semi-periphery. On the subjective level these processes were first accompanied with high hopes for economic well-being and then with disappointment. Today the formative experiences are i.a. that of inequality, lack of social security and lack of recognition. Parallels to the neue Bundesländer are in existence.
The reading material focuses on the aforementioned processes through selected case studies.
Students with all levels of English are invited and encouraged to take part in the course and to engage themselves in discussions where we exchange different perspectives and levels of knowledge about the topic. The language of the exams both oral and written can be chosen (English, German).
Bibliography
Scheiring, Gábor (2019): Egy demokrácia halála: Az autoriter kapitalizmus és a felhalmozó állam felemelkedése Magyarországon, Napvilag. (in English published by palgrave macmillian under the titel The Retreat of Liberal Democracy (2020)) |
