ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests potential applications of revitalization movement analysis to the transformation of the communist systems. Revitalization movements are not regular occurrences of partial reform such as dissident movements, the generation of new politial parties, or "cultural drift." Revitalization movements arise when the ability of a system previously in steady state to satisfy needs diminishes to the point that profound personal and/or cultural distortion emerges. Anthropological studies of revitalization movements typically focus on relatively small and traditional societies. The group of countries of East-Central Europe, i.e., the former "Soviet Bloc" plus Yugoslavia and Albania, is notable for its diversity of peoples and cultures; yet it is also linked by common legacies. The theme of cultural stress is sufficiently widespread that the concept of revitalization will continue to be an important overall feature of the analysis of post-communist transformations. Religious impulses will continue to exert catalyzing and revitalizing effects on individuals and on cultural subsystems.
