{"title":"Anti-Communism as Ideology","authors":"Filip Ilkowski","doi":"10.1525/J.POSTCOMSTUD.2021.54.1-2.1","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this article is to show with the example of contemporary Poland the ideological function of anti-communism. It explains how “communism” has been constructed and utilized mainly in order to legitimize the political/economic power in the decades of Transition after 1989. The question is not only why anti-communism has been relatively successful in functioning as the hegemonic ideology, but also what its limits are. This article examines the roots of anti-communism with an attempt to find its universal and particular features. The Polish example is helpful to distinguish major, contradictory, ideological explanations operating within its framework: apologetic and contesting.","PeriodicalId":51623,"journal":{"name":"Communist and Post-Communist Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"4","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Communist and Post-Communist Studies","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1525/J.POSTCOMSTUD.2021.54.1-2.1","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 4
Abstract
The aim of this article is to show with the example of contemporary Poland the ideological function of anti-communism. It explains how “communism” has been constructed and utilized mainly in order to legitimize the political/economic power in the decades of Transition after 1989. The question is not only why anti-communism has been relatively successful in functioning as the hegemonic ideology, but also what its limits are. This article examines the roots of anti-communism with an attempt to find its universal and particular features. The Polish example is helpful to distinguish major, contradictory, ideological explanations operating within its framework: apologetic and contesting.
期刊介绍:
Communist and Post-Communist Studies is an international journal covering all communist and post-communist states and communist movements, including both their domestic policies and their international relations. It is focused on the analysis of historical as well as current developments in the communist and post-communist world, including ideology, economy and society. It also aims to provide comparative foci on a given subject by inviting comments of a comparative character from scholars specializing in the same subject matter but in different countries.