Thinking Against the Blackmail of Democracy

Abstract

Barely two years into being a student/scholar of “post-socialism,” and an immigrant in the USA, two sources of human histories have grown intertwined within me. Narratives of post-socialism reveal conflicts between the idea of collectivized justice and human dignity, and that of state as an institution whose irreducible goal is to control and govern. Whereas the experience of immigration, in relation to “Americanness,” has helped me to ask the question “for whom?” concerning liberty, representative democracy, and entrepreneurial values. Seemingly paradoxical yet curiously, echoing impacts of narratives of post-socialist transitions, as well as constantly curated histories of socialist pasts can be deciphered from the current predicament of capitalism and authoritarianism. Is it possible to historicize the times that are after the end of this history? Red Hangover offers insights concerning these intellectual and ideological sensibilities by using a variety of writing, in both fiction and non-fiction genres.