ANTI-COMMUNISMS: DISCOURSES OF EXCLUSION
ANTI-COMMUNISMS: DISCOURSES OF EXCLUSION

Summary/Abstract: Communism is a necessary starting point for any political or theoretical discussion of anti-communism. Exorcised for nearly two centuries, communism today is not just occluded by the prohibition of thinking or practicing it, but also expelled by a complete ban on desiring it. Not only does mention of communism bring disgust on the Right, fully aware that the once-horrifying spectre is just its pale shadow today; communism is also an uncomfortable relative for the Left. At best a troublesome legacy of the past – at worst, a foe actively fought against. The desire for communism – as a goal, as an experience of everyday life, as co-existence, co-production and co-abolition of constraints that stand in the way of truly democratic governance – lay at the heart of designing a better future. Therefore, only a mediation in the desire for communism can make the considerations of anti-communism something more than a mere contribution to the emergence of yet another form of “anti” politics.

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