The Weakness of Postcommunist Civil Society

Bibliographic Data

ID6286790
AuthorsMarc M Howard (0000-0003-3669-6997, corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume13
Issue1
Pages157-169
Publication date2002-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of democracy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1045-5736 • E-ISSN: 1086-3214
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/jod.2002.0008
OpenAlexW2045634837
LanguageEN
Citations received100
References cited22

Civil society continues to thrive as an object of study in postcommunist Europe, as in most other regions of the world. Much of the literature on postcommunist civil society, however, stresses its relative weakness, whether compared to other regions or to the high expectations of 1989-91. 1 This emphasis on weakness is especially notable given that, only a decade ago, so many observers expected postcommunist civil society to be unusually strong and vibrant. Indeed, although specialists on Latin America and Southern Europe were also beginning to take the concept seriously in the 1980s, most scholars agree that the rapid revival of civil society as a major object of study resulted largely from developments surrounding the collapse of communism

Civil society · Communism · Development economics · Economic history · Economics · Latin Americans · Object (grammar · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Weakness · History · Law · Medicine · Political Conflict and Governance · Social Capital and Networks · Social Policy and Reform Studies