Socialism in Action
Socialism in Action

Summary/Abstract: Based mainly on Albanian primary sources, this article is a comparative analysis of the Ideological and Cultural Revolution in communist Albania in the mid 1960s. The article emphasizes the importance that the regime placed on the historical tradition of mass mobilizations accumulated in other communist countries before, primarily Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China in the mid 1960s, and the Cultural Revolution in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. The article argues that the Cultural Revolution in communist Albania created new forms of legitimacy and strengthened the continuation of the policies that the communists had implemented since their coming to power. This differed from similar movements in the Soviet Union where the Cultural Revolution had a foundational aim, and also from the Chinese Cultural Revolution which resulted in a chaotic and disruptive movement. The article also argues that the regime had to resort to the revival of local traditions – carefully selected – and the people’s cultural production to forge forms of legitimacy that would allow the regime to mobilize a large part of the population around the Party’s political line. The carefully controlled mass movement targeted the country’s religions, transforming Albanian into the first official atheist state in Europe, the emancipation of women, and the increase of economic outputs through mass actions of volunteering work in specific economic projects. The movement nonetheless created spaces for personal affirmation, new cultural expressions, and often agency for the people involved. Finally, the article argues that the Cultural Revolution in Albania rather than emulating the Chinese and the Soviet experiences, responded to the ruling party’s necessity to further its political and economic aims, while also strengthening and deepening the control of the party over the society.

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