Authors

Discussion

How should we explain the fact that state socialism existed for more than forty years in East Central Europe even though most people living under such regimes did not share the basic principles of communist ideology? What was the basis for the long-term stability of communist domination? This roundtable addresses these questions through a discussion of Making Sense of Dictatorship (CEU Press, 2021), a collected volume of essays exploring the ideas, values and practices – such as peace and quiet, security, social progress, welfare, self-realization and efficient management – that sustained state socialism in the post-Stalinist era and were perceived by most citizens as ‘normal’ and non-ideological in everyday life. Drawing on case studies from across East Central Europe, the roundtable will focus particularly on the notion of Sinnwelt, which is used to understand the banal ‘little utopia’ of actors ranging from rank-and-file communists, dissidents, professional economists, housewives, urban planners and local policemen. Sinnwelt refers to the zone in which historical actors constructed the meaning of the existing social order in daily life, and repeatedly re-established its ‘legitimacy’ in everyday transactions. As scholarship on state socialism increasingly emphasises its global dimensions, we ask if the notion of Sinnwelt can open up new research questions on domination and everyday life after 1945.