Society, Culture and Ideology in Late Socialism Marxism, Socialism, and Culture Originally culture conceptualized as superstructure- deterministically derived from economic base Marx’s idea of ‘false consciousness’ Leftist thinkers in the 1920s Antonio Gramsci and hegemonic culture Alexander Bogdanov and Proletkult The mundane reality after the Civil War in the USSR The limitations of sober Marxist analysis and propaganda

Society, Culture and Ideology in Late Socialism The Concept of a Socialist Culture and Socialist Individual Eradicate peasant backwardness and superstition Destroy vestiges of bourgeois (superficial) and potentially pernicious culture Religion Popular types of entertainment – movies; Artistic styles – jazz and rock music, symbolism and existentialism, etc Officially sanctioned ‘socialist realism’

Society, Culture and Ideology in Late Socialism Consciously create and allow only aspects of cultural and intellectual life that cultivated the socialist individual Humanist and internationally-minded (anti-nationalist; anti-racist gender neutral) Disciplined and socially responsible Educated, enlightened, and all-round accomplished individual Communal spirit and thoroughly politicization (ideologization) of individuals Officially sanctioned social organizations permeate every sphere of social action Discourage and ban any cultural and scientific developments that contradict historical materialism, or might criticize Marxism Control over information and cultural imports - censorship Control over movement of people and their exposure

Society, Culture and Ideology in Late Socialism How and why did socialism fail with their homo sovieticus? Retreat due to pragmatism or conservatism Socialism and gender Retreat because of stiff resistance and high political cost of coercion Traditional rituals and symbols Due to the perverse incentives of the economic system Discipline, work ethics, responsibility Due to flaws and constraints of the ideology The alternative identities – gender, ethnic

Society, Culture and Ideology in Late Socialism Succeeded in the thorough politicization of personal and social life Implicit social contract started to unravel in 1980s

Society, Culture and Ideology in Late Socialism Nationalism and Late Socialism Official Marxists Position Did Socialists suppress or reify national identities The original support lent to colonial movement for independence National difference was constitutionally enshrined The political economy of socialism – shortage Individual Receptivity

Society, Culture and Ideology in Late Socialism Anti-Soviet Positions Historiography and Ethnography Romania Public claims to Bessarabia and Bukovina Discrimination against ethnic Hungarians Albania Unresolved border issues Inconsistent discrimination against Greeks and support of Kosovo Albanians

Society, Culture and Ideology in Late Socialism Bulgaria Most ethnically homogeneous socialist country on the Balkans Turkish Minority policy – the ‘Revival Process’ Macedonian issue Yugoslavia Socialist federation helped to create and reify national identities Macedonian Bosnian Croat (and later Slovenian) -Serb struggle Albanian grievances