From Revolution To Krizis: The Transcending Revolutions of 1989-91

There are four conceptions of historical time in the modern era. In naturalistic cyclicity, traditional circular definitions of the rise and fall of nations predominate. Enlightenment rationalism is based on a more linear view of ineluctable political progress. In emancipatory revolution a social element is added to Enlightenment progressivism, accompanied by a denigration of the political. Finally, the antirevolutions of 1989–91 inaugurated a postrevolutionary phase characterized by the politics of krizis. These antirevolutions represented a conscious repudiation of the revolutionary style of politics. They made possible a return to naturalistic cyclicity. Krizis is a reflexive form of political action derived not from the epochal conceptualization of time characteristic of revolutionism but from solutions within politics itself.