{"id":61,"date":"2019-12-29T18:50:03","date_gmt":"2019-12-29T22:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/?page_id=61"},"modified":"2020-04-30T15:47:48","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T19:47:48","slug":"reality","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Facing Communist Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The communist dream vanished in most of the world in 1989-1991. Arguably, it was gone in the rest of the world by the late 1990s, though some states, such as China, Vietnam, and Cuba, still claim to be ruled by communist parties. \u00a0In this final section of the seminar we will consider two topics. \u00a0First, we will ask why the communist dream vanished when it did. Second, we will ask what it means to say it vanished. These are important questions for understanding the life and death of all \u00a0political systems.<\/p>\n<p><strong>24.\u00a0 Thursday, April 16<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Today, we will discuss the long life of communism.\u00a0 Please watch these two films before class.\u00a0 What insight do they give you into why communist systems lasted for as long as they did?\u00a0 Where do we see signs in the two films that the believe in the communist dream was waning?<\/p>\n<p>Both of these films are available under Hesburgh Reserves.\u00a0 Since we will not have any print readings to discuss, please take notes while you are watching these films.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">FILM: &#8220;Journey to Russia&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">FILM: \u00a0\u201cThe Lives of Others\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-425\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/files\/2020\/04\/Stasi-scan-20003.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"388\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/files\/2020\/04\/Stasi-scan-20003.jpg 794w, https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/files\/2020\/04\/Stasi-scan-20003-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/files\/2020\/04\/Stasi-scan-20003-768x568.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 85vw, 525px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">The Stasi follows one of the authors in your readings.\u00a0 Who is he?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>27.\u00a0 Tuesday, April 21<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Discussion: \u00a0In this section, we deal with the fall of communism between 1989 and 1991. \u00a0Rather than hashing out all the details of various countries\u2019 experiences, I want to focus on two interacting explanations for these events: \u00a0one from above (Gorbachev) and the other from below (the element of \u2018surprise\u2019 which Kuran describes). For this entire discussion, please keep in mind Havel\u2019s argument about the transition from living within a lie to living within the truth.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li>Gorbachev Speaks! \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/gorbachev-speaks\/\">READ<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.nd.edu\/dream-of-communism-2016\/gorbachev-speaks\/\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Richard Sakwa: &#8220;The Soviet Collapse: Contradictions and Neo-Modernization&#8221;\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S1879366512000267\">READ<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Timur Kuran, \u201cNow out of Never: \u00a0The Art of Surprise in the East European Revolutions\u201d\u00a0<em> World Politics<\/em>\u00a0(1991) \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/~pdodds\/files\/papers\/others\/1991\/kuran1991.pdf\">PRINT AND READ<\/a><\/li>\n<li>A. James McAdams,\u00a0<em>Vanguard of the Revolution:\u00a0 <\/em>Chapter 12<\/li>\n<li>Joseph Loconte, &#8220;Judgment Day:\u00a0 The Collapse of Soviet Communism: \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.georgetownjournalofinternationalaffairs.org\/online-edition\/judgment-day-the-collapse-of-soviet-communism\">READ<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>29.\u00a0 Thursday, April 23<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Discussion<\/em>: \u00a0Was it just a dream? As our journey draws to a close, I would like you to think about the big picture. \u00a0What does it mean to say that communism is over. \u00a0Is it? \u00a0More broadly, what can it mean to say that the era of grand ideologies is over? \u00a0Can it mean anything? \u00a0Or do these grand ideologies just continue on?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li>Vaclav Havel, \u201cPower of the Powerless\u201d: \u00a0RE-READ the final three chapters.\u00a0 How is Havel talking about\u00a0<em>our<\/em>\u00a0world, not just their world?<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;After communism,&#8221;\u00a0<em>The Economist<\/em>, December 21, 2002\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/after-communism\/\">READ<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Augusto Del Noche, &#8220;Marxism Died in the East because it realized itself in the West&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/churchlifejournal.nd.edu\/articles\/marxism-died-in-the-east-because-it-realized-itself-in-the-west\/\">PRINT AND READ<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Francis Fukuyama, \u201cThe End of History\u201d: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.de\/aboutus\/science_society\/discussion\/discussion_2006\/ref1-22june06.pdf\">\u00a0READ<\/a> the Preface and Sections 3, 4, and 5.<\/li>\n<li>A. James McAdams,\u00a0<em>Vanguard of the Revolution:\u00a0 <\/em>Chapter 13<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>27.\u00a0 Tuesday, April 28<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Rise and Fall of Communism:\u00a0 Revisited.<\/p>\n<p>What lessons has our seminar conveyed about <em>human nature<\/em>?\u00a0 What lessons has it conveyed about the <em>human condition<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p>For this, our last meeting, I invite you to choose the readings and the way you want to conduct our discussion.\u00a0 I will sit back and listen and learn.<\/p>\n<p>The Readers&#8217; Choice Awards!<\/p>\n<p class=\"medium-heading item-title\" style=\"padding-left: 40px\" data-qa=\"item-title\">Elaine Replogle, &#8220;Reference Groups, Mob Mentality, and Bystander Intervention: A Sociological Analysis of the Lara Logan Case,&#8221; S<cite>ociological Forum, <\/cite>Vol. 26, No. 4 (DECEMBER 2011), pp. 796-805.\u00a0 READ\u00a0 through JSTOR in Hesburgh Library<\/p>\n<p class=\"medium-heading item-title\" style=\"padding-left: 40px\" data-qa=\"item-title\">Clay Shirky, &#8220;The Political Power of Social Media&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www-jstor-org.proxy.library.nd.edu\/stable\/25800379?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents\">READ<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Marie Whitaker, &#8220;Rural America and a Silent Majority powered Trump to a Win&#8221;\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/storyline\/2016-election-day\/analysis-rural-america-silent-majority-powered-trump-win-n681221\">READ<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">&#8220;CERC: Psychology of a Crisis&#8221;\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/emergency.cdc.gov\/cerc\/ppt\/CERC_Psychology_of_a_Crisis.pdf\">READ<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Vox:\u00a0 The Legacy of the Pandemic:\u00a0 Ten Ways it will change our lives&#8221;\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/the-highlight\/2020\/4\/16\/21213635\/coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-legacy-quarantine-state-of-mind-frugality\">READ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Your Final Essay Assignment is <a href=\"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/final-essay\/\">HERE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>NOTE: Please leave your technology at home. This includes electronic devices of any kind, such as laptops, Kindles, i-Pads, I-phones, video cameras, video games, dog fences, or other personal digital devices.<\/p>\n<p><em>My class is a no-tweet zone. Some things are just not dignified!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The communist dream vanished in most of the world in 1989-1991. Arguably, it was gone in the rest of the world by the late 1990s, though some states, such as China, Vietnam, and Cuba, still claim to be ruled by communist parties. \u00a0In this final section of the seminar we will consider two topics. \u00a0First, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/reality\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Facing Communist Reality&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-61","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/61","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/61\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":456,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/61\/revisions\/456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/communism-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}