Czechoslovak Post-Stalinism: A Distinct Field of Socialist Visions

Abstract

Recent historical research has looked at post-Stalinism as a specific and distinct historical era. Whereas Anatoly Pinsky points to the post-Stalinist emphasis on subjectivity, Pavel Kolář writes about post-Stalinist indecisiveness resulting from the tension between its inheritance from the past and an anticipated future. Having both approaches in mind, this article sheds light on the anticipatory character of post-Stalinist thought, which, by critically analyzing its present, aimed to achieve a socialist future. The opening part of the article articulates a theory of modernity, which is applied to the history of thought and is employed as a general framework for defining the post-Stalinist era. Second, the authors introduce the category of post-Stalinist reflexivity and analyze internal differentiation within the thought of the party intelligentsia, which led to the birth of various conceptions of socialism (an “internal plurality”). Third, the article analyzes humanist and techno-optimist thought in Czechoslovakia and demonstrates the future-oriented nature of post-Stalinism.