How and where do we write the history of state socialism? Some preliminary reflections

Abstract

The paper addresses the question of why we should continue to study state socialism. In view of the rise of China and the resurgence of economic nationalism pursued by illiberal and populist governments in East-Central Europe, questions of state-led development have become topical again. Today, few authors would subscribe to Francis Fukuyama's excessively optimistic prediction of the "end of history," when the Cold War ended with what seemed at that time to be an unqualified triumph of the West. In the formerly socialist countries, history neither ended in 1989 nor when they joined the European Union. In the following section three temporal and spatial contexts in which state socialism can make sense will be discussed, by asking: (1) what is state socialism's place in the longue durée of Eastern Europe's historical legacies; (2) how does state socialism relate to general European history; and (3) what is state socialism’s place in global history - and vice versa.