Syllabus
Thematic blocks:
1. Introduction: What perestroika meant for Gorbachev and how it is possible to speak about its revolutionary impact on the Soviet authoritative discourse
2. Perestroika and its economic impact on the Soviet Union
3. The collapse of the Gorbachev´s politics
4. The rise of the new elites in post-Soviet Russia
Annotation
The course introduces students to the attempt to transform the political system in the so-called Eastern Bloc countries and the reasons for the failure of this attempt. How was it possible that a system that appeared to be unchangeable and eternal collapsed within a few years? The explanation for this paradox will be sought primarily in the transformation of the ideological discourse that M.S.
Gorbachev's policies - consciously or unconsciously - set in motion, which is why a reading of authoritative texts (newspapers, speeches by party leaders) from the period before and after M.S. Gorbachev took over the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union will be of considerable importance.
The acceptance/non-acceptance of Gorbachev's policies by other socialist countries will not be overshadowed, and the emphasis will be on the Czechoslovak approach.