End of Isms: Reflections on the Fate of Ideological Politics After Communism's Collapse (Political Studies Special Issues)

Looking at the state of, and future prospects for, the politics of ideology after the collapse of Communism in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the contributors to this book consider both universal intellectual trends and specific ideological situations in the major countries of the contemporary world. In the view of some contributors the history of the modern state is a voyage towards a perfect condition of things, a voyage which will continue without interruption, despite the fall of Communism. Others, however, think that the politics of ideology has had its day and is now in the process of being replaced by the "politics of modesty", which concentrate on limited and pragmatically defined goals. The complex and "peace-disturbing" issues put on the political agenda by increasingly self-assertive nationalisms are regarded, accordingly, as either the potential source of new ideologies seeking the establishment of the Utopian "perfect condition" or, on the contrary, as variations of the same modest, pragmatically motivated political pursuits. Two chapters of the volume are specifically devoted to the discussion of the fate of Marxism and the socialist idea generally. The situation with regard to ideological politics in the United States, Western Europe and Russia is analyzed and evaluated in three special chapters, each focusing on one of these major protagonists of the contemporary world. The book concludes with a summary review of the issues discussed and an attempt at projecting a relatively coherent vision of the fate of "isms" in the post-Communist era.