The Dilemmas of Dissidence in East-Central Europe
*Choice Outstanding Academic Book for 2003*
Choice, the magazine of the American Library Association has selected The Dilemmas of Dissidence in East-Central Europe by Barbara J. Falk as a 2003 Outstanding Academic Title
Barbara Falk discusses one of the major currents leading to the fall of communism. She examines the intellectual dissident movements in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary from the late 1960s through to 1989. In spite of its historic significance, no other comprehensive survey has appeared on the subject.
In addition to the huge list of written sources from samizdat works to recent essays, Falk`s sources include interviews with many personalities of those events as well as videos and films (including Oscar winners).
The author passionately argues that the intellectuals and dissident writers of the region not only contributed mightily to the events themselves, but also collectively bequeathed to the world an oeuvre that constitutes one of the most original, important and useful contributions to political theory today.
Although indeed classified as political theory, The Dilemmas of Dissidence in East-Central Europe provides an exciting narrative account of the development of thoughts and actions of those brave intellectuals in the dreary Warsaw, Prague and Budapest of yesteryear.
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1
Section 1
Chapter 2 POLAND: THE HARBINGER OF CRISIS AND COLLAPSE
Intellectual Opposition in Poland: 1956–1965
The Catholic Church in Poland
The Students’ Protest: March, 1968
The Workers’ Protest: Gdansk, 1970
The Events of June, 1976: Radom, Ursus, and Beyond
Komitet Obrony Robotników (KOR): The Workers’ Defense Committee
The Alternative Civil Society?
Towarzystwo Kursów Naukowych (TKN): The Flying University
The Pope’s Visit, 1979
Solidarity (Solidarnosc)
Intellectuals within Solidarity
Martial Law and its Aftermath
Solidarity Underground
Re-Legalization, the Roundtable Talks (RT), and Free Elections
Chapter 3 CZECHOSLOVAKIA: FROM INTERRUPTED TO VELVET REVOLUTION
Czechoslovak Stalinism and the Role of Intellectuals
The Economic Crisis of the 1960s
Proposals for Economic Reform
The Writers’ Union and the Cultural Renaissance of the 1960s
The Student/Youth Movements and Strahov
The Prague Spring
The Action Program and Soviet Response
Independent Currents: The Untimely Rebirth of Civil Society
Cierna nad Tisou
Crisis: Soviet Mobilization and the Moscow Protocols
Normalization
The Underground Music Scene and the Trial of the PPU
The Helsinki Accords and Charter 77
Výbor na Obranu Nespravedlivě Stihaných (VONS)
The “Underground University”
Samizdat Publishing and Distribution
Repression and Resistance in the Czech Lands and Slovakia in the 1980s
The Underground Church in Slovakia
The Tide Turns: “Just a Few Sentences”
The GDR Exodus and the Fall of the Wall
November 17 and the Birth of Civic Forum and Public against Violence
Havel na Hrad
The New Year’s Address and the Consolidation of Democracy
Chapter 4 POST-1956 HUNGARY: REPRESSION, REFORM, AND ROUNDTABLE REVOLUTION
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956: Lessons and Legacies
Kádárite Communism
The Politics of Economic Reform: The NEM
Socialist Redistribution and the Second Economy
Intellectuals: On the Road to Class Power?
The Budapest School
“Populist” vs. “Democratic” Dissent
Beszélö and Hungarian Samizdat
Toward an Alliance: The Bibó Festschrift and Monor
Lakitelek
Intra-party and Election Reform
The Rebirth of Civil Society
Ellenzéki Kerekasztal (EKA) and the “Pacted Transition”
The “Four Yeses” Referendum
June 16, 1989: The Reburial of Imre Nagy
Section 2
Chapter 5 Intellectuals in Poland: The Tradition Continues
Leszek Kolakowski: A Source of Hope amidst Hopelessness
Adam Michnik’s Alliance Strategy: The Church and the Left
“A New Evolutionism”
Non-violence as Theory and Practice
Kuron: A Bridge between Generations
Theorizing Civil Society: The Polish Case
Chapter 6 OPPOSITION INTELLECTUALS IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Václav Havel’s Theatre of the Absurd
The Evolution of “Living in Truth”: Its Meaning and Consequences
From Playwright to Dissident in Husák’s Czechoslovakia
Theorizing Resistance: “The Power of the Powerless”
“Politics and Conscience” and the Destructive Capacities of Technology
Largo Desolato, Temptation, and the Vanek Plays
Letters to Olga: “Being” and the “Absolute”
The Decisive Influence of Jan Patocka
Václav Benda’s “Parallel Polis”
The Collective Oeuvre of the Chartists
Theorizing Civil Society: The Czechoslovak Example
Chapter 7 THE DEMOCRATIC OPPOSITION IN HUNGARY
The Philosophical Legacy of György Lukács
The Influence of István Bibó
Kis and Bence: Toward an East European Marxism?
The Social Contract of Beszélö and “Radical Reformism”
Kis’ Democratic Alternative
Miklós Haraszti: The Nature of Repression for Workers and Artists
Theorizing Civil Society: Konrád’s Antipolitics
Section 3
Chapter 8 THE DISSIDENT CONTRIBUTION TO POLITICAL THEORY
Defining the Problem: Civil Society and the Shifting Boundaries of Public and Private
Toward a Reconstituted Public Sphere: Central European and Western Intersections in Theorizing Civil Society
Reappraising Civil Society: Feminist Critiques
Political Economy as Critique: The Dissidents Meet the Market
Dissident Thought as Reconstructed Liberalism
Political Theory Engages with Dissident Theory
Marginalization or Public Engagement: The Role of Central European Intellectuals in the Post-Communist Era
Bibliography
Personal Interviews
Skilling Seminar, Toronto
Filmography/Videography
Notes
Index