Politics With a Human Face: Identity and Experience in Post-Soviet Europe

Description

Politics with a Human Face presents a holistic understanding of identity formation in post-Soviet Europe, arguing that since politics is fundamentally a human affair. In order to adequately understand it, one needs to understand its human side first. Drawing on the thought of Dilthey, Ricoeur and Plato, the author employs empathy as a method, together with visual and historical analysis, to analyse the role of human experience in post-Soviet politics. As a result, the book offers a theoretical approach for assessing influence of the non-rationalistic factors, such as associative symbolism, human experience, political images and historical narratives, in both domestic and foreign affairs. A study at the juncture of Social Sciences and Humanities, Politics with a Human Face explores a number of cases, including Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia, as well as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, examining issues of liminal transition, ‘far-right’ movements, victimhood, ethnic conflict and political paradoxes. Seeking to shed light on the region’s agency and perception of both its own political and existential situation, and that of the surrounding world, this book constitutes a timely and original contribution to understanding the post-Soviet Europe. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures Preface Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Politics from the Human Perspective Conceptualising the human factor Embedded narrative history Empathic and visual understanding as means of research Logics of the argument Notes 2. The Face and the Mask: Lithuania Lithuania in history Lithuania in thought “Lithuanian-ness” as experience Modern identity formation as mask-making Notes 3. Political Images and Identity Image of a hero in post-Soviet national narratives The anatomy of political images Images in politics Notes 4. Common Images, Contesting Narratives: Maidan On site: the Maidan’s territory Western narrative Russian narrative Ukrainian narrative Maidan as a post-Soviet movement for fundamental change Notes 5. Liminality and Sovietism Liminal transition Modalities of liminal experience Post-Soviet liminality Sovietism Notes 6. Violence, Victimhood and Identity Violence Victimhood Post-Soviet identity Notes Conclusion Bibliography Index