Post-Communism as a Modern or Postmodern Phenomenon?
The phenomenon of post-communist development in Europe to this day eludes a clearly-defined conceptualisation due to its multi-dimensionality. That said, anyone who endeavours to study post-communist political economy is obligated to commence with a discussion of ‘the commons’ and common property resources by explaining and examining the relationship and interplay between common property and collectivism, and the monumental impact that both liberal and neoliberal thought have had on the social economies of Eastern Europe following the fall of communism (Pickles, 2006). This paper aims to provide a multi-layered critique of how post-communist growth in Europe has been variously understood and assessed, with a focus on Romania. Said discussion is framed within the wider debate surrounding modernity and post-modernity, employing the writings of Jacques Derrida, Jurgen Habermas, Zygmunt Bauman and Pierre Bourdieu. The main argument proposed in this paper is that post-communism ought to b