Imagining the Nation: Campaign Posters of the First Postcommunist Elections in Latvia
Imagining the Nation: Campaign Posters of the First Postcommunist Elections in Latvia
Author(s): Daina StukulsSubject(s): Civil Society, Political history, Government/Political systems, Politics and society, Period(s) of Nation Building, Post-Communist Transformation, Sociology of Politics
Published by: SAGE Publications Ltd
Keywords: Latvia; political history; campaign posters; postcommunist transformation; the first postcommunist elections; independent civil society; national self-determination; Soviet communism;
Summary/Abstract: Opposition to a Soviet-imposed communist system united a broad array of constituencies in the Latvian republic, pitting them against the state in an attempt to secure recognition of independent civil society as well as national self-determination. Implicit in the goals of the opposition was the desire to "normalize" the state and social life, an objective broadly accepted by a Latvian population that perceived its own national character and history as inherently incompatible with communism, but did not state an explicit alternative model. "Normalcy" was elevated as the antithesis of Soviet communism, suggesting that those who were against Soviet communism were for nomalcy. [...]
Journal: East European Politics and Societies
- Issue Year: 11/1997
- Issue No: 01
- Page Range: 131-154
- Page Count: 24
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF