I am going to have a lecture at Populism in Central and Eastern Europe in the 20th Century Workshop 11 – 12 May 2017 in Paris, France. I am dealing with the topic of Communist populism between 1948-1989.
According to Cas Mudde we live in a “populist Zeitgeist”. It will be argued in my paper that not only the 21th century but the 20th century is about populism. In the first section I elaborate the theoretical background of my paper: the various notions of populism have been analysed here and I will refer the biopolitical framework of populism. After that, I explore the populism of the Horthy era (1920-1944) in the context of Communist populism. Then I bring up the case of Communist populism in Hungary (1948-1989), which has been analysed here from several aspects. In the context of the working class and the bourgeois elite; the regime biopolitical character; goulash communism as a populist legitimacy; and the point of view of socialist patriotism. I conclude this paper with the usefulness of investigating historical populism in conjunction with contemporary tendenciesAccording to Cas Mudde we live in a “populist Zeitgeist”. It will be argued in my paper that not only the 21th century but the 20th century is about populism. In the first section I elaborate the theoretical background of my paper: the various notions of populism have been analysed here and I will refer the biopolitical framework of populism. After that, I explore the populism of the Horthy era (1920-1944) in the context of Communist populism. Then I bring up the case of Communist populism in Hungary (1948-1989), which has been analysed here from several aspects. In the context of the working class and the bourgeois elite; the regime biopolitical character; goulash communism as a populist legitimacy; and the point of view of socialist patriotism. I conclude this paper with the usefulness of investigating historical populism in conjunction with contemporary tendencies.
