| No 13
|
The Unfinished Revolutions of 1989: The Decline of the Nation-State? |
| Institution |
Center European Studies Institute of Sociology, Budapest, Hungary |
|
Publication (Journal) |
Social Research 58 no. 4 (winter 1991): 781-804 |
| Published in |
USA, 1991 |
| Language |
English |
| Abstract |
The global meaning of the events of 1989 in Eastern and Central Europe (ECE) and of the end of the Cold war has been interpreted in the West as the worldwide victory of capitalism over socialism, the final point in the ideological development of mankind and the universalization of liberalism. The newly freed nations of ECE and the former USSR desire the creation of new nation-states, as evidenced by increasingly virulent nationalism. The revolutionary processes that began in 1989 and the internal conflicts and external expectations that the processes provoked are discussed. Drawing on the historical complexities of the various nation-states, nationalist emotions and ethnic conflicts in ECE are described. To date, only authoritarian democracies have been formed in the region. The tendencies toward centralization are still alive, and nationalism has become the new state religion. The law of self-determination and sovereignty must be reconsidered. |
| Availability |
Szabo Ervin Library, Budapest |
| Discipline(s) |
political science
, political sociology
|
| Source(s) |
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