This article by Kristen R Ghodsee (Professor of Russian and East European Studies, University of Pennsylvania) and Scott Sehon (Professor of Philosophy, Bowdoin College) on the merits of taking an anti-anti Communism stance is very thoughtful.
I was recently in Slovakia and, if I had lived in socialist Czechoslovakia, I would’ve been a clandestine Christian (and I met people who lived like this), because religious orders were prohibited and I belong to the Dominican Order. This infringed on the fundamental right of freedom of religion. It was quite interesting to listen to people compare the past and the present and tell their different (and sometimes differing) stories. I learned a lot.
As for my comrades, we do well to study socialist experiences openly and not defensively, examining their deviations and crimes, instead of leaving this task to others who are politically motivated to spread the idea that there are no transformative alternatives to the class warfare of capitalism, making use of racism, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, and Islamophobia. The Dominican Order is often associated with the Inquisition, even though some notable Dominicans were tried by inquisitional tribunals (e.g., Meister Eckhart). Dominicans are among the most dedicated researchers on this topic today. It makes sense. And how many socialists/communists were tried, convicted or summary killed in socialist countries (e.g., in the Stalinist Great Purge)? I know some are still nostalgic about the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc — as if they didn’t collapse because they were collapsing internally, despite the fact that this event had destructive consequences, not just in these countries, but also in their capitalist neighbours. That’s a blind and even ahistorical attitute. We need to look to the future and do it with a progressive mind, making sure that socialism never surrenders its commitment to democracy and freedom.
An excerpt:
Conservative and nationalist political leaders in the US and across Europe already incite fear with tales of the twin monsters of Islamic fundamentalism and illegal immigration. But not everyone believes that immigration is a terrible threat, and most Right-wing conservatives don’t think that Western countries are at risk of becoming theocratic states under Sharia law. Communism, on the other hand, provides the perfect new (old) enemy. If your main policy agenda is shoring up free-market capitalism, protecting the wealth of the superrich and dismantling what little is left of social safety nets, then it is useful to paint those who envision more redistributive politics as wild-eyed Marxists bent on the destruction of Western civilisation.
What better time to resurrect the spectre of communism? As youth across the world become increasingly disenchanted with the savage inequalities of capitalism, defenders of the status quo will stop at nothing to convince younger voters about the evils of collectivist ideas. They will rewrite history textbooks, build memorials, and declare days of commemoration for the victims of communism — all to ensure that calls for social justice or redistribution are forever equated with forced labour camps and famine.
Responsible and rational citizens need to be critical of simplistic historical narratives that rely on the pitchfork effect to demonise anyone on the Left. We should all embrace Geertz’s idea of an anti-anti-communism in hopes that critical engagement with the lessons of the 20th century might help us to find a new path that navigates between, or rises above, the many crimes of both communism and capitalism.
