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Paper long abstract:

This paper investigates patterns of coexistence in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) I call agrarian tolerance. Despite modernisation attempts, state socialism reproduced and even strengthened the role of kinship, community and religion that remained influence post-socialist "great transformation". Agrarian tolerance today is manifested in the activities of those ordinary people who resist radicalization and employ actions that are 'embedded' within community, religion and kinship. Inspired by Gudeman´s approach to economy, I suggest to analyse patterns of tolerance as an interplay of community, market and global politics against the background of present-day crisis. Such analysis can reveal one path that renders earlier practices of tolerance vulnerable to populism and neo-fascism whereas another creates the basis for genuine socially sensitive agrarian tolerance. The combined perspective of political economy and phenomenology is crucial to understand macro- and micro-scale changes of coexistence and conflict that strengthen and/or oppose radical politics in CEE.