Communitarianism, Charles Taylor, and the Postcommunist Transition

The legitimity of the one-party regimes in Soviet type societies was based on the guarantee of providing social security to all members of the society. As the result of the collapse of these regimes, the population of postcommunist countries was seized by the fear of pauperization, ruthless capitalist exploitation, anomie, moral degradation, crime rise, etc. It has tried to find rescue from this fear in the warm bosom of ethnic groups. The devastating consequences of postcommunist ethnic nationalisms suggest that the citizens of postcommunist countries need other cultural, normative and institutional orientations as the bases of their self-respect and self-confidence. This need can be satisfied in various types of communities. The article summarizes the communitarian arguments in tavor of this thesis. Since, according to these arguments, belonging to a community is a sine qua non of the very morality and dignity of man, modern liberaldemocratic societies have to be understood as communities of communities. In order to guarantee the cohesion of these societies, procedural rules have to be supplemented by a number of substantive core values. The understanding of modern political societies has a far-reaching impact upon the idea of civil society: its increased complexity and fragmentation, mediated interactions between citizens and the state, public sphere as the medium of discussions among communities — especially about their universalist claims and the “politics of difference”, etc. Proceeding from this argumentation, some elements of the optium type of civil society for the postcommunist countries in Europe are proposed: A broad spectrum of communities and associations, deliberations upon the criteria of priority concerning their promotion, high respect for the liberal and democratic constitution, equality of all citizens, rule of law, welfare etc. These elements promise to promote a society in which free citizens constitute a “we” including all of them, enabling them to peacefully live and act within their respective associations and communities