Postsocialism is the academic study of states after the decline or fall of socialism, especially in Eastern Europe and Asia. The "socialism" in postsocialism is not based on a Marxist conception of socialism but rather, especially in the Eastern European context, on the idea of "actually existing socialism". Scholars of postsocialist states maintain that, even if the political and economic systems in place did not adhere to orthodox Marxist ideas of "socialism", these systems were real and had real effects on cultures, society, and individuals' subjectivities. Scholars of postsocialism often draw from other theoretical frameworks like postcolonialism and focus especially on the evolution of labor relations, gender roles, and ethnic and religious political affiliations. The idea of postsocialism has also been criticized, however, for placing so much emphasis on the impact of socialism while the term socialism remains difficult to define, especially if extended beyond Eastern Europe.See, e.g., Martin Müller, "Goodbye, Postsocialism!," Europe-Asia Studies 71, no. 4 (April 21, 2019): 533–50, .
Overview Postsocialism focuses on the lasting cultural and social effects of actually existing socialism, and how the legacies of socialism interact with the free-market or neoliberal policies of the 1990s. As an analytical framework, postsocialism emphasizes the importance of the socialist state and provides a critical perspective on the "Western economic and political forms" that arose in its place. Although the terms postsocialist and postcommunist are mostly interchangeable, postcommunism focuses more on the institutional and formal changes, whereas postsocialism is generally more concerned with culture, subjectivities, and everyday life.Müller, "Goodbye Postsocialism!," 338.
Postsocialist scholars, like postcolonial theorists, are concerned with the tensions between Western scholarship, including their own, on the regions they study and the local scholarship. Postsocialist scholars have framed some of their studies in response to structural models projecting a "transition" between a socialist state and a democratic market economy. Postsocialist scholars criticize these studies, known as "transitology," for being teleological, based excessively in Western ideas, and simplistic. Instead of "transition," postsocialist scholars prefer to describe "transformations" resulting from the end of socialism, avoiding the implicit endpoint contained in "transition" and allowing for many different changes to happen simultaneously and in complementary or contradictory ways.Müller, 537; Verdery, What Was Socialism, 15, 227-228; Michael Burawoy and Katherine Verdery, "Introduction," in Uncertain Transition: Ethnographies of Change in the Postsocialist World, ed. Katherine Verdery and Michael Burawoy (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1999), 1–3. Some postsocialist scholars, like Katherine Verdery, posit that the turning point of 1989 should be considered a turning point not just for formerly socialist states but for the world more broadly, because the existence of these "socialist" states was central to geopolitics, global economics, and to the self-definition of non-socialist states as well.Verdery, What Was Socialism, 230.
Postsocialism and academic fields Postcolonialism Like postsocialism, postcolonial theory provides a critical perspective on the cultural and social legacies of a hegemonic system, focuses on continuities through periods of structural political change, and critiques mainstream Western scholarship. Scholars of postsocialism such as Katherine Verdery, Sharad Chari, and Jill Owczarak, have all explored the potential overlaps between postsocialism and postcolonialism and the ways that these theories can inform one another.
There are some key differences between postsocialism and postcolonialism. First, although influential thinkers like Frantz Fanon and Aimé Césaire wrote texts during the height of decolonization, postcolonial studies emerged as a field largely in the 1980s, while postsocialism emerged in the mid-1990s, only a few years after the fall of most communist states.Sharad Chari and Katherine Verdery, "Thinking between the Posts: Postcolonialism, Postsocialism, and Ethnography after the Cold War," Comparative Studies in Society and History 51, no. 1 (2009): 11. Owczarzak claims that postcolonialism has a clearer theoretical grounding while most studies of postsocialism are geographically unified because they focus on Eastern European states.Jill Owczarzak, "Introduction: Postcolonial Studies and Postsocialism in Eastern Europe," Focaal 2009, no. 53 (April 1, 2009): 2, . Notably, Arif Dirlik had developed the concept of postsocialism in the context of Chinese studies prior to the fall of socialism in Eastern Europe but did so based on a significantly different definition of postsocialism.Arif Dirlik, "Postsocialism? Reflections on 'Socialism with Chinese Characteristics,'" Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars 21, no. 1 (March 1989): 33-44, .
Verdery and Chari present three main ways of combining postsocialism and postcolonialism or thinking "between the posts." First, postsocialism and postcolonialism can be used to explore the relationship between "empire and capital," especially by drawing from studies of the "technologies of imperial power," studies of the relationship between empire and ethnic or nationalistic sentiment, and studies of neocolonialism and neoliberalism that explore "new kinds political and economic interventions into the affairs of formally sovereign states."Chari and Verdery, "Thinking between the Posts," 15, 13, 17. Second, postsocialism and postcolonialism can be combined to undo the Cold War-era tendencies for studies of the "Three Worlds" to treat each "world" in isolation and rely on different fields for analyzing each one. And third, postsocialism can draw upon postcolonial theories of race to analyze the promotion of "internal enemies" under socialism and the development of ethnonationalism in Eastern Europe. Verdery and Chari propose a unified perspective, "post-Cold War studies," that takes into account the impact of the Cold War on both the decolonization process and the progression and fall of socialism in Eastern Europe.Chari and Verdery, "Thinking between the Posts," 18-26.
Owczarak focuses on two themes of postcolonialism that scholars use in analyzing postsocialism. First, scholars can draw on Edward Said's concept of Orientalism, as Eastern Europe has long "served as Western Europe's intermediary 'Other'" and has been perceived as relatively backward and in need of civilizing or educating.Owczarzak, "Introduction," 4-5. Second, postsocialist scholars can use the postcolonial concept of "hybridity," or "belonging to multiple worlds" to explore the ways in which Eastern European states are both "Eastern" and "Western."Owczarzak, "Introduction," 10-11. These analytical tools can help scholars take into account how analyses of and identities in Eastern Europe are formed with reference to both Western European and local concerns.Owczarzak, "Introduction," 12-13.
Postsocialism and gender Issues relating to gender, especially that of abortion, have become major political flashpoints in postsocialist states and gender is a major focus of postsocialist studies. Many postsocialist states have powerful conservative, natalist, anti-feminist political movements. Postsocialist scholars explain these developments as being to some extent a backlash against what many perceived as the "feminizing," or "mothering" nature of the socialist state, which provided a great deal of services for the family and became associated with the term "feminism" itself.Verdery, What Was Socialism, 80-81; Owczarzak, "Introduction," 8-9. The developments under postsocialism, then, involve "compelling women back into the nurturing and care-giving roles 'natural' to their sex and restoring to men their 'natural' family authority."Verdery, What Was Socialism, 80. The retreat of the state from the public domain—in terms of reproductive rights, guaranteed employment, and social care—also led to a loss of work and engagement in civil society for women, in what Frances Pine similarly calls a "retreat to the domestic."Frances Pine, "Retreat to the Household? Gendered Domains in Postsocialist Poland," in Postsocialism: Ideals, Ideologies and Practices in Eurasia, ed. C. M. Hann (London: Routledge, 2001), 101.
Scholars of postsocialism have also analyzed the interaction between different visions of feminism. Analysis from Western feminists and aid from Western feminist NGOs has met with some resistance from Eastern European feminists who embrace ideas of femininity and gender difference and criticized Western observers for not understanding local gender dynamics.Owczarzak, "Introduction," 8-9; Manduhai Buyandelgeriyn, "Post-Post-Transition Theories: Walking on Multiple Paths," Annual Review of Anthropology 37, no. 1 (2008): 241, . At the same time, some younger Eastern European feminists have turned to Western institutions and ideas for inspiration, support, or legitimation, adding a generational tension to gender issues in the region.Owczarzak, "Introduction," 9.
Postsocialism and capitalism Scholars such as anthropologist Nicolette Makovicky see utility in interrogating postsocialist societies as specific examples of local capitalism and variants of neo-liberal models of governance.Nicolette Makovicky (2014) "Introduction: Me, Inc? Untangling Neoliberalism, Personhood, and Postsocialism," in Neoliberalism, Personhood, and Postsocialism: Enterprising Selves in Changing Economies ed. Nicolette Mackovicky, Ashgate, 3–4. In emphasising the long-term and ongoing effect of economic changes, Makovicky and others who employ ethnographic approaches draw attention to postsocialism as a specific form of dispossession, remaking of subjecthood, and continuing temporal discontinuity.Jeremy Morris (2016) Everyday Post-socialism: Working-Class Communities in the Russian Margins Springer, p. 15. Scholars inspired by critical geography and anthropology use the concept of dispossession to open up the discussion of postsocialism as producing specific forms of illiberal populism,Don Kalb (2018) "Upscaling Illiberalism: Class, Contradiction, and the Rise and Rise of the Populist Right in Post-socialist Central Europe". Fudan J. Hum. Soc. Sci. 11, 303–321. forms of precarious emotional citizenry,Jasmine Arpagian & Stuart C. Aitken (2018) "Without Space: The Politics of Precarity and Dispossession in Postsocialist Bucharest", Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 108:2, 445-453, and socio-economically generated nostalgia.Jeremy Morris (2014) "The Warm Home of Cacti and Other Soviet Memories: Russian Workers Reflect on the Socialist Period", Central Europe, 12:1, 16-31,
Postsocialism and China Although the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is still in power, the Reform and Opening policies and concomitant changes to China's economy and society have led some scholars to use the label postsocialist to describe China as well. Arif Dirlik first used this term in 1989 in an attempt to theorize the "condition of ideological contradiction and uncertainty" present in a state that continued to call itself socialist (with the term "socialism with Chinese characteristics") while undertaking capitalist economic reforms.Arif Dirlik, "Postsocialism?," 34. Dirlik argues that reform in China created a tension between the CCP's continued self-definition as socialist and its use of "socialist revolution" in fostering nationalism, and the internal and external pressures from integration with the capitalist world economy. For Dirlik, postsocialism is a way of describing the "discursive struggle between present-day capitalism and 'actually existing socialism' to appropriate the future."Dirlik, "Postsocialism?" 43.