The Dilemmas of Dissidence in East-Central Europe
Citizen Intellectuals and Philosopher Kings
Barbara J. Falk, Fellow of the Centre for
Russian and East European Studies at the University
of Toronto, Professor of Politics at Humber College,
Toronto
*Choice Outstanding Academic Book for 2003*
Choice,
the magazine of the American Library Association has
selected The Dilemmas of Dissidence in East-Central
Europe
by Barbara J. Falk as a 2003 Outstanding Academic Title
Discusses one of the major currents leading to the fall
of communism. Falk examines the intellectual dissident
movements in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary from
the late 1960s through to 1989. In spite of its historic
significance, no other comprehensive survey has appeared
on the subject.
In addition to the huge list of written sources from
samizdat works to recent essays, Falk`s sources include
interviews with many personalities of those events as
well as videos and films (including Oscar winners).
The author passionately argues that the intellectuals
and dissident writers of the region not only contributed
mightily to the events themselves, but also collectively
bequeathed to the world an oeuvre that constitutes one
of the most original, important and useful contributions
to political theory today.
Although indeed classified as political theory,
The dilemmas of dissidence provides exciting
narrative account of the development of thoughts and
actions of those brave intellectuals in the dreary Warsaw,
Prague and Budapest of yesteryear.
"Unlike other studies in this field of political science,
Barbara Falk takes dissident ideas seriously and shows
their power and force in a particular ideological, social
and political context. She is also interested in what
happened after those often highly speculative and abstract
ideas were put into circulation inside and outside the
dissident groups. She also addressed the problem of
the limited impact of these ideas on political developments
in Central Europe after the 1989 revolutionary changes.
The study is informative, balanced in its descriptive
parts, and provides an original insight into the role
of dissidents as committed public intellectuals. It
is well researced and includes a remarkable number of
details." - Political Studies Review
"Falk's approach runs against the grain of contemporary
postmodern analysis, which privileges the text itself
over other sources. Instead she tries to strongly contextualize
the emergence of new modes of thought in Poland, Czechoslovakia,
and Hungary, following the kind of path-dependent approach
that has been so fruitful to understanding democratic
transition and social change in the region...
This book deserves a broad readership. Political theorists
will benefit from Falk's tour of the accomplishments
of the writers of the region." - Slavic Review
"... a truly indispensable book. ...The examinations
of each thinker-politician are well done and will do
much to anchor their ideas in the repertoire of the
student of contemporary European history. ...The influence
of East-European dissent should not be underestimated
and we should be grateful to Falk for making this case."
- European History Quarterly
"There are three strands to Barbara Falk's fascinating
new book: first, charting dissident acitvity in east-central
Europe during the Communist period; secondly providing
an account of the relationship and interaction between
dissident intellectuals and the societies in which they
lived; and third, to convince the reader that dissidents
in the region should be accorded a place in the pantheon
of political thinkers.
... she is to be commended for highlighting both the
importance of links between groups in different countries
and the impact events elsewhere in the Eastern Bloc
had on dissident activity." - Central Europe
"Studie Barbary Falkové je prvním
knižne vydaným pokusem o pohled na dejiny
a politické myšlení disentu trí
zemí východní Evropy: Polska, Ceskoslovenska
a Madarska... tvorí diskuse s Ralfem Dahrendorfem,
jeho žákem Timothy Gartonem Ashem a dalšími,
kterí disidentskému myšlenkovému
okruhu nepriznávají žádný
význacný prínos pro politickou
teorii... Kniha je záslužná a prípadným
"lokálním" autorum nasazuje
latku pomerne vysoko." - Lidové noviny
2003
500 pages
ISBN 978-963-9241-38-1 cloth $59.95 / €49.95 / £37.95
ISBN 978-963-9241-39-8 paperback $27.95 / €23.95 / £16.95
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