Za fasádou jednoty - KSČ a SED po roce 1985 – Štefek Martin (2015)

In his comparative study, Martin Štefek provides insight behind the facade of the apparent unity of the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) after 1985. Based on research of archival sources, he reveals to readers the logic of the political process in Soviet-type regimes and problematizes the entrenched notion of their rigidity. The contrast between the Czechoslovak and East German cases is demonstrated by the differing ways of reflecting on Soviet perestroika. He documents the disputes over the concept of a specific version of Czechoslovak reform and describes the factionalism and disintegration of the previously very stable leadership of the KSČ Central Committee. In the case of the East German situation, he clarifies the reasons for the SED leadership's caution towards Gorbachev's policies and points out the differences in how reform proposals from the Soviet Union were processed. By relativizing the conventional notion of monolithic centers of power, the book (re)opens the discussion on the limits of applying the concept of totalitarianism.