Mongolia at the turn of XX–XXI centuries: a case of post-socialist transformation

This article examines the drastic changes in society which occurred in Mongolia at the turn of the 21^st century. One of the key concepts used in this article is “post-socialist transformation”. The purpose of this term is to explain the existence of common historic and spatial characteristics among countries which relinquished socialism as a social model and instead accepted capitalism as an alternative social ideal. While examining this phenomenon in Mongolia, together with those formal institutional changes in politics and the economy which accompany transformation, equal importance was attributed to analyzing the discursive nature of post-socialism, i.e. the manner in which the processes occurring were perceived and interpreted. The Mongolian phenomenon primarily consists of the fact that it turned out to be the only former socialist state in Asia which took the path of simultaneously reforming both the political and economic sector, utilizing the experience of Eastern-European post-socialist states and Russia as a basis. After relinquishing socialism, Mongolia began to accept capitalism as a new ideal model, while maintaining a modernist outlook on its history, its present and its future. Democracy as a central concept of post-socialist transformation in Mongolia is considered to be the main measure of modernity and progress, which separates “advanced nations” from “underdeveloped countries” in terms of social development. The democratic revolution of 1989-1990 is considered to be some sort of “watershed” which separates development from underdevelopment. The period of socialism in Mongolia’s history is considered to be a manifestation of underdevelopment: it is presented as a pre-modern or even an anti-modern era, based on denying the values of modernity. Meanwhile the idea of democracy was perceived by Mongolian society with extreme diffusiveness and controversy. Some associated democracy with freedom – in the broad sense of that word. Others, who denounced the system of benefits for the party nomenclature, saw an opportunity for social justice in democracy. Such phenomenon as rehabilitating history and religion, as well as changing foreign-policy strategy, are viewed as attributes of the country’s democratization, while democracy in itself became interconnected with such phenomena as “nation” and “sovereignty”.

Mongolia, post-socialist transformation, democracy, modernity.

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