Suchergebnisse

Reprinted from, "The uses of anti-communism," edited by Ralph Miliband and others. With particular reference to the Soviet Union.

EVER SINCE THE BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION OF OCTOBER 1917, ANTICOMMUNISM HAS BEEN A DOMINANT THEME IN THE POLITICAL WARFARE WAGED BY CONSERVATIVE FORCES AGAINST THE ENTIRE LEFT, AND SINCE 1945 AND THE ONSET OF THE COLD WAR IN PARTICULAR, ANTI-COMMUNISM HAS BEEN CEASELESSLY DISSEMINATED BY A MULTITUDE OF DIFFERENT SOURCES AND MEANS IN A MASSIVE ENTERPRISE OF PROPAGANDA AND INDOCTRINATION. NO SUBJECT OTHER THAN "COMMUNISM" HAS RECEIVED ANYTHING LIKE THE SAME VOLUME OF CRITICISM AND DENUNCIATION. THE INTENSITY AND FORMS OF THIS PROPAGANDA HAVE VARIED FROM COUNTRY TO COUNTRY AND FROM PERIOD TO PERIOD, WITH THE UNITED STATES WELL IN THE LEAD AMONG CAPITALIST DEMOCRACIES IN THE INTENSITY AND PERVASIVENESS OF ITS ANTI-COMMUNISM; BUT AT NO TIME SINCE 1917 HAS ANTI-COMMUNISM FAILED TO OCCUPY A MAJOR, EVEN A CENTRAL, PLACE IN THE POLITICS AND POLICIES OF THE CAPITALIST WORLD. ANTI-COMMUNISM IS BASED ON TWO FUNDAMENTAL CONTENTIONS: THE FIRST IS THAT "COMMUNISM" IS A SUPREME AND UNQUALIFIED EVIL; AND THE SECOND IS THAT IT IS AN EVIL WHICH THE SOVIET LEADERS ARE SEEKING TO IMPOSE UPON THE REST OF THE WORLD.

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.