Perestroika and the Party: National and Transnational Perspectives on European Communist Parties in the Era of Soviet Reform

Countless studies have assessed the dramatic reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev, but their analysis of the impact on European communism has focused overwhelmingly on the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc nations. This ambitious collection takes a much broader view, reconstructing and evaluating the historical trajectories of glasnost and perestroika on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Moving beyond domestic politics and foreign relations narrowly defined, the research gathered here constitutes a transnational survey of these reforms’ collective impact, showing how they were variably received and implemented, and how they shaped the prospects for “proletarian internationalism” in diverse political contexts.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Perestroika or about the Demise of the Communist World? Francesco Di Palma PART I: EASTERN EUROPE Chapter 1. The Impact of Perestroika and Glasnost on the CPSU's Stance toward the “Fraternal Parties” in the Eastern Bloc Peter Ruggenthaler Chapter 2. Soviet Society, Perestroika, and the End of the USSR Mark Kramer Chapter 3. Perestroika Made in Hungary? The HSWP’s Approach to the Soviet Reform of the Late-1980s Tamás Péter Baranyi Chapter 4. Yugoslavia and Perestroika 1985-1991: Between Hope and Disappointment Petar Dragišić Chapter 5. The Polish United Workers Party and Perestroika Wanda Jarząbek Chapter 6. SED and Perestroika: Perceptions and Reactions Hermann Wentker Chapter 7. Between External Constraint and Internal Crackdown: Romania’s Non-Reaction to Soviet Perestroika Stefano Bottoni PART II: WESTERN EUROPE Chapter 8. Parallel Destinies: The Italian Communist Party and Perestroika Aldo Agosti Chapter 9. “I felt as if I was faced with a French Honecker”: The French Communist Party Confronted with a World that was Falling Apart (1985-1991) Dominique Andolfatto Chapter 10. A Dialogue of the Deaf: The CPGB and the SED during the Gorbachev Era (1985-1990) Stefan Berger and Norman LaPorte Chapter 11. Premature Perestroika: The Dutch Communist Party and Gorbachev Gerrit Voerman Chapter 12. The Perestroika and the Greek Left Andreas Stergiou Chapter 13. The Austrian Communists and Perestroika Maximilian Graf Chapter 14. The Spanish Communist Party and Perestroika Walther L. Bernecker Afterword: Gorbachev and the End of International Communism Silvio Pons Index

About the Author :
Francesco Di Palma (1980) is Associate Professor at the University of Vienna and Project Researcher at the German Historical Institute in Rome. A former Teaching Fellow at the Freie Universität Berlin and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he has published widely on European socialism and communism, fascism and antifascism, and cultural and Jewish history.

Review :
“Written by well-known historians and political scientists, the book addresses an underexplored topic in detail and therefore will be of interest to specialists of communism, party politics, and the political Left in Europe.” • Choice “…a generally strong…and substantial collective contribution to the historiography of Communism.” • H-Diplo “Perestroika and the Party gives a comprehensive look at how different national parties reacted to Mikhail Gorbachev’s program of reform. Its case studies are fascinatingly detailed and make useful additions to the larger historical literature.” • Edward Cohn, Grinnell College