Article

The individual and the community: A post-communist perspective

Details

Citation

Markova I (1997) The individual and the community: A post-communist perspective. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 7 (1), pp. 3-17.

Abstract
Individualism, collectivism and communitarianism can only be understood in their historical and cultural contexts. The author discusses a post-communist perspective on the relationship between the individual and the community. Stressing the complementary nature of the two terms, the author reviews the pre-communist history of the idea of community in the countries of Central Europe. She also discusses individualism as an expression of humanism in the writings of Herder, Hegel, Bolzano, Masaryk and Havel. She contrasts the destruction of community by modernity and by collective totalitarianism. The latter is achieved by the obliteration of memory, a fear of one's neighbours and the passivity of silent majorities.

Keywords
individualism; collectivism; communitarianism; totalitarianism; humanism; complementarity; the ethics of responsibility

Journal
Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology: Volume 7, Issue 1

StatusPublished
Publication date28/02/1997
Publication date online04/12/1998
URLhttp://hdl.handle.net/1893/26536
PublisherWiley-Blackwell
ISSN1052-9284

People (1)

Professor Ivana Markova

Professor Ivana Markova

Emeritus Professor, Psychology