Between Utopia and Disillusionment

Henri Vogt is Professor of International Politics at the University of Turku, Finland. He received his doctorate from the University of Oxford, and has previously worked, inter alia, as Visiting Professor of European Studies at the University of the Saarland, Germany, and Senior Researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. His other books include A Responsible Europe? Ethical Foundations of EU External Affairs (coedited with Hartmut Mayer; Palgrave Macmillan 2006).

• List of Figures and TablesAcknowledgementsIntroductionBackgroundThe Rejection of UtopiaEmpirical Sources and NarrativityThe Structure of the StudyConcluding RemarksChapter 1. Narratives of the RevolutionsEstonia – the Singing RevolutionThe German Democratic Republic – die sanfte RevolutionCzechoslovakia – the Velvet RevolutionBy Way of ConclusionChapter 2. Revolution as a UtopiaThe Notion of UtopiaFreedomFutureConcluding RemarksChapter 3. Utopia Not Yet Fulfilled: Ambivalence after the RevolutionsPost-revolutionary AmbivalencePostmodern AmbivalenceConcluding RemarksExcursus: Ambivalence in Ivan Klíma’s Poslední stupenv du° vevrnostiChapter 4. Utopia Not Fulfilled: DisillusionmentMaterial Reasons for DisillusionmentAtomisationAlienationExcursus: Diachronic and Synchronic Alienation in Post-communistNovelsAcceptance: SacrificeConcluding RemarksChapter 5. Individualism as a UtopiaThe Notion of IndividualismIndividualism and CommunismIndividualism and Post-communismIndividualism, Politics and DemocracyChapter 6. Collective Utopias: From National Independence to EuropeNationalism and CommunismThe Idea of the Nation: Present and Not Yet PresentThe Utopian StruggleNational Identity: Universal or Particular?Concluding RemarksConclusion: Politics between Utopia and DisillusionmentUnderstanding Post-communist PoliticsThe Utopia of PoliticsFinal RemarksAppendicesThe Interviews and the Method of AnalysisThemes of the InterviewsThemes for the Czech essayistsPresident Lennart Meri’s Speeches Analysed in Chapter 6.Translations of the German Interview PassagesNotesBibliographyIndex

"Vogt listens, and he does it brilliantly thus providing the reader with a truly unique narrative that is both analytically deep and enjoyable to read…Thanks to Vogt's confident, forceful and lucid style, the narrative never loses its grip on the academic debate; it incorporates an enormous body of the relevant literature in political science, philosophy, cultural anthropology, and social psychology. Yet, the text clearly gives priority to what makes this study exceptional: the live experiences of Eastern Europeans."  ·  Kosmopolis. The Finnish Journal of Peace, Conflict and Global Politics Research