The Fall of Real Socialism and the Crisis in the Human Sciences, with Implications for Social Justice

The relatively brief of Socialist Enlightenment - which played such an important role by realizing idea of equality, wbile tragically enforcing dictatorship - has come to an end. As Norbert Ehas' analysis of civilizational process in France and Germany eloquently shows, idea of freedom in West is closely related to its cultural traits, that is, to culture of court and bourgeois culture. The development of freedom is therefore flip side of coin of Western class society, elements of which endure under contemporary conditions. The idea of equality has taken root within this Western societal context. Centered in majority of classes in Western civilizational development, this idea was realized in socialist transformation that began within revolutionary Russia of 1917, at periphery of Western Civilization, and spread over Eastern Europe. Historically speaking, modern idea of freedom has developed whenever idea of equality was negated in class society; idea of equality, on other hand, has flourished where freedom lacked a base and where a collective orientation was dominant, particularly in non-Protestant regions of Occident. However, both ideas - idea of freedom and its negation, idea of equality - have same origin in identity principle of European Christian civilization. The transition from identity principle also engendered idea of World history through world-historical development of European Christian civilizational process since Columbus: it is a profound closure, because Soviet Socialistempire has ended. The identity principle - idea of assimilation of all civilizations centered on Christianity - presupposes idea of progress, which can be traced to Sir Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes, and illustrates development of modern natural science. Thus, both enlightenments, modern Enlightenment and Socialist Enlightenment, are subject of a critique of modernity. The difference principle is currently gaining recognition with reference to anticolonialism, anti-imperialism, anti-ethnocentrism, and anti-cultural chauvinism. The following antitheses are becoming increasingly evident and are being emphasized both theoreticar, and practically: republicans versus federalists, centralism versus regionalism, center versus periphery, and system versus living world. The Decline of Real Socialism: An End to History or Modernity? Elsewhere, I have discussed significance of decline of real socialism for of civilization.(1) The decline of real socialism led to a chaotic world situation followed by worldwide economic, social, and political crises, including deepening economic crisis in European Community, rise of racism there, nationalist and religious confrontations in Yugoslavia and former Soviet Union, and upsurge in Islamic dogmatism. Following capitalist-oriented revolutions throughout Russia and Eastern Europe, possibility of a revival of communism has arisen, with two notable events in September and October 1993, in Poland and Russia. In Poland, former Communist received almost 70% of vote in a free election and Russia temporary had two presidents and an intense conflict between a populist presidential leader, Boris Yeltsin, and parliamentary power dominated by former Communists. The decline of real socialism has been variously interpreted, including as part of of history. Yet what does concept of an end of history connote today? Francis Fukuyama's well-known thesis regarding the of history first appearect in an article by that title (1989) and was fully developed in his exceptional book, The End of and Last Man (1992). My thesis on the of modernity first appeared with publication of my second book, Vers une critique du [urlogos] moderne (in Japanese, 1992b) and theme is enlarged in Social Justice for first time in English. …