Mobilizing Grassroots in the City: Lessons for Civil Society Research in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

What can we learn about civil society in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Russia from studies on activism within the region's urban spaces? In this article, we argue that studying urban activism in CEE offers useful insights for general theory building about the importance of uneventful protests, the formation of agency and the processes of becoming active in the public sphere (conceptualized here as "political becoming"), and the enabling role of informality in collective action in adverse contexts. By contributing to our understanding in this way, these insights help to advance relational and process-based conceptions of civil society.

Shrinking, Shifting, and Strengthening: The Dynamics and Diversity of Civic Activism in Poland

“…16 as the country embraced democratic principles in the 1990s, activism became more diverse and dispersed, and it was impossible to depict this broad arena of independent action using a single word. 17 Solidarity's legacy and large doses of international assistance from Western sources contributed to the hope that Polish society would be vibrant, liberal, and take specific organizational forms (NgOs or CSOs). Polish society was different from other formerly communist countries because even during the communist period it was pluralistic, less controlled by the communist party, and even somewhat independent.…”

A Research Agenda for Civil Society

“…Future studies should focus on decoupling civil society research from political agendas incompatible with democratization and the primacy of human rights in development. At the same time, the role of "uneventful politics" that ultimately begets social and political transformation needs to be further studied and theorized to account for the rise of informality in collective action (Jacobsson & Korolczuk, 2020). Activists and researchers should also be careful not to take for granted achievements in the field of democratization and development of civil society.…”

Kontexty výskumu kultúrno-kreatívnych centier na Slovensku

“…Pre tento región sú charakteristické každodenné drobné činy jednotlivcov, ktoré sú prvými krokmi k aktivizmu, no nemusia viesť k verejne viditeľnej kolektívnej činnosti. Tento príklon k individualizmu je podporený i politickou dezilúziou a zakorenenou tendenciou k antikolektivizmu, čo je jedným z odkazov socialistickej skúsenosti obyvateľov (Jacobsson -Korolczuk 2019). Pod občianskym aktivizmom som preto nesledoval vo výskume len kolektívne, organizované a formálne aktivity, ale aj iniciatívy a druhy participácie súvisiace s každodenným životom ľudí, ktorí nemusia zákonite považovať samých seba za občianskych aktivistov.…”