The edited volume, Activism in Hard Times in Central and Eastern Europe: People Power, is a welcome and innovative addition to the scholarship on civil society, or what the authors accurately describe as “civic activism,” in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The book is a response to the somewhat problematic narratives that civil society has been weak, that civic space has been shrinking so as to reduce its impact, and that the post-communist legacy had similar impacts. To the contrary, the authors reveal and argue that civic activism has been adaptive, creative, and resilient in the face of “hard times” politically and socially.
The book makes its case through an original and dynamic method of having half of the chapters co-written by a team of academics and activists, and with each chapter profiling a couple of activists. Additionally, through a broad definition of activism, it avoids a normatively biased definition, while extending our knowledge of activism by examining changes in the content, form, and impact of civic activism in the face of recent challenges in the region. Thus, a focus on how civic activists adapt is one that can travel to other regions. The cases and chapters cover activists from five countries, representing diversity across the region: Poland and Hungary (Central European countries with recent democratic backsliding), Russia and Ukraine (post-Soviet countries representing authoritarianism and an active invasion and war), and Bosnia-Herzegovina (as a post-war Balkan country). Through an accessible narrative style, we learn first-hand about how motivated and brave activists (many of whom did not consider themselves “activists”) used new tactics and strategies in the context of specific challenges or crises with chapters focusing on the following issues: political polarization and a shrinking civic space in Poland and Hungary, intergenerational tensions and coalition building in Poland and Ukraine; digital activism in Bosnia and Russia; everyday activism such as environmentalism in Bosnia and Russia; activism around domestic violence in Russia and Bosnia in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Ukrainian activist resistance to the Russian invasion.
In battling these “hard times,” the activists profiled present readers with innovative tools and suggestions that could be used for activists beyond the CEE region such as: focusing on apolitical or non-partisan issues and concrete everyday problems at local level (for example, clean air issues in Bosnia, support for veterans in Poland, and humanitarian needs in Ukraine); emphasizing horizontal networks and coalitions (unity across NGOs in Hungary); direct citizen participation (deliberative democracy in Poland); and adaption through using digital tools (awareness of domestic violence in Russia). The innovative use of both activist co-authors and narrative profiles of civic activists (that connect to larger academic and strategic questions about outcomes and constraints) in each chapter is both refreshing, but also methodologically important. There has been an increase in narrative analysis as a form of social science research and more attention to the power of narratives to give meaning and guide action in various realms, from social movements to foreign policy. Narratives can be seen as “discourses with a clear sequential order that connects events in a meaningful way for a definite audience and thus offers insights about the world and/or people’s experiences of it” (Hinchman and Hinchman Reference Hinchman and Hinchman1997, xvi).
Structuring each chapter around a narrative profile of a civic activist serves multiple purposes as seen in the chapter on Marta Mazurek of Poland that highlights women’s rights advocacy during the conservative Law and Justice coalition’s rule. First, it draws the reader into an activist’s motivation and personal trajectory that reveals the diversity of ways that everyday citizens can become leaders, activists, and changemakers. Mazurek went from a quiet girl not questioning authority to an English professor who studied feminism, who eventually became a local public official and city council member. Her work increased women’s participation in government and did much to raise public awareness about women’s challenges and achievements, and to push local government to take gender equality more seriously. Second, through a narrative like hers, readers learn more about the types of strategies activists can take (for example, local government change and building bridges across divides) and about the actual barriers to more impactful civic activism in today’s CEE (and beyond), such as those between younger and older feminists and between conservatives and progressives on gender issues. Third, through the activist profiles, we see a third accomplishment of this type of narrative approach: concrete examples of how citizen activism in the right contexts with particular innovative tactics, such as a focusing on cross-cutting everyday challenges like a poor environment or concerted networking efforts, can lead to real change, similar to what human rights scholar Kathryn Sikkink has called “evidence for hope.”
In Sikkink’s (Reference Sikkink2017) book, Evidence for Hope: Making Human Rights Work in the 21st Century, she aims to counter the prevailing pessimism among academics and activists about the rapid decline of human rights by advocating for equal attention to empirical evidence of incremental improvements relative to the past, rather than relying solely on comparisons to ideal standards. By highlighting the detailed and empirical reality of positive effects and change (and often the emotions and motivations surrounding them), not only are we being objective and providing evidence, but, as Sikkink argues, we are stimulating motivation and inspiration for current and future potential activists and policymakers. In Activism in Hard Times, the authors and activists both provide this evidence and hope, but they also use their case studies and examples to speak to the wider questions in this literature, such as explaining how civic activism has changed since the 1990s, how it has become more localized, and how it has pushed back against democratic backsliding and other challenges. We learn about how Gerwin in Poland and Madarasz in Hungary improved democratic decision-making by promoting deliberative civic panels and participatory budgeting at the city level, thus allowing citizens more influence over local public policy; how Brkan in Bosnia used digital activism to improve democratic accountability and force the resignation of a corrupt official; how Mora’s coalition in Hungary worked through the European Court of Justice to eventually overturn Hungary’s law punishing civil society organizations for receiving foreign funding; how Svets and OPORA activists in Ukraine have collected evidence of war crimes committed during the Russian invasion that will be used for future trials; and how Muzyka and others in Ukraine have provided direct humanitarian, psychological, and legal support to soldiers and their families. This is not to say we should ignore the roadblocks and barriers to change, and Activism in Hard Times surely does not shy away from those, since every chapter includes a section on challenges faced by civic activists and their own suggestions, along with the academic authors’ prescriptions for responding to these concerns.
The book’s concluding chapter is especially useful and significant as it addresses the factors that affect civic activism’s impact and reinforces other literature on social movements and activism. Relying on the evidence provided in the book, the authors show how political context, such as regime type, significantly affects the success of activism. We also learn about the powerful role of coalition building and framing strategies. The most significant takeaway is the power of local grassroots activism and the focus on concrete, local issues rather than more abstract concepts and goals. At the same time, despite the optimism in the book and this review of what can be accomplished in these hard times, the authors and the activist profiles’ present a holistic account that includes the many specific challenges faced by these activists, such as fighting against oppressive regimes such as in Russia, responding to citizen and elite apathy and political indifference, deep divisions in communities that don’t want to cooperate, and the perennial challenge of dependence on foreign donors.
This excellent, well-researched, and succinctly written edited volume will appeal to diverse audiences. Its core strength is that it should be just as attractive to everyday activists both in CEE and beyond as it is to scholars and students in political science and sociology. The last few pages provide specific suggestions for the future from activists themselves. They, but also scholars moving forward, need to be in tune with the voices, power, and prescriptions of the people and activists on the ground doing the hard work of change. This is especially relevant as democracy and activism continue to be under attack within Europe and globally.
