Wine and Democracy: On the Evolution of Slovak Progressive Populism

• In Event: Where Slovakia is and Where it Came From: Contentious Post-Communist Politics

Abstract

This paper brings to light the idea of rural development in the part of a society commonly associated with the success of reactionary populism. The argument is that countryside is capable of emancipatory change, if mobilizations and policies adequately address the post-peasants, the bulk of citizens who believe in, feel the value, and identify with the country. The social and cultural transformation of wine serves for the ‘bottom-up’ case of this progressive change.

Author

• Juraj Buzalka, Comenius U (Slovakia)