The (not so) surprising longevity of identity politics: contemporary challenges of the state-society compact in Central Eastern Europe

Abstract

The article argues that across the East European region ongoing uncertainty about the nature of the state-society compact is central to continuous relevance of “national” in politics. This compact defines who owns the state and who is to benefits from its current form. Since postcommunist nation-state-building was as much about the exclusion of some residents from the political community as it was about limiting states' reliance on thick political ideologies, “national identity” remains at the heart of postcommunist politics. This foundational exclusion also offers considerable insights for comparison of the causes, effects and challenges of identity politics in wider Europe.