Postcolonialism: A Valid Paradigm for the Former Sovietized States and Yugoslavia?

This article argues that the structuralist effects on the large variation in the diverse human rights and democratization records of post-communist states can be best explained through the optic of postcolonialism. This approach would not override recent effects of strategic actors, though the type...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:East European politics and societies 2004-05, Vol.18 (2), p.191-235
Main Authors: Carey, Henry Frank, Raciborski, Rafal
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Balkan States
Colonialism
Decolonization
Democracy
Democratization
Government/Political systems
Human Rights
Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
Political Development
Political history
Political science
Post-communist societies
Post-Communist Transformation
Post-Soviet studies
Postcolonialism
Postcommunist Societies
Regional studies
Social development
Sociology
Sociology of Politics
U.S.S.R
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Yugoslavia
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Summary:This article argues that the structuralist effects on the large variation in the diverse human rights and democratization records of post-communist states can be best explained through the optic of postcolonialism. This approach would not override recent effects of strategic actors, though the type of postcolonialism in a post-communist state greatly constrains their actions. Among the postcolonial constraints are unsolved colonial-era problems, the type of colonial mentorship and institutions, the process of decolonization and the immediate regime path created in extricating from communism, the ongoing metropolitan-postcolonial elite relationships, and their links to mass politics. Five postcolonial regions emerge that reflect variable colonial and postcolonial experiences. The Soviet colonial experience had the most negative, direct, and ongoing effects on the former Soviet republics. Postcolonial effects on East Central Europe and the Balkans are less than the former USSR because of overlapping colonial heritages with Western empires and the shorter Soviet influence.
ISSN:0888-3254
1533-8371
DOI:10.1177/0888325403259918