The “revival” of civil society in Central Eastern Europe

New environmental and political movements

Bibliographic Data

ID7800627
AuthorsDavide Torsello (0000-0002-0541-8735, Central European University, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume22
Issue2
Pages178-195
Publication date2012-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1210-3055 • E-ISSN: 1337-401X
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.2478/s13374-012-0016-1
OpenAlexW2139257375
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited11

The idea of civil society is one of the oldest and most contested in Western political and sociological thought. Among the social sciences, anthropology has been the discipline that has prompted the boldest critiques of the concept. This paper argues that the “revival” of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe in one particular field—that of environmental activism—has been contingent with the outcomes of EU enlargement policies. I introduce the case study of one of the most complex and contested transport development projects in Central Eastern Europe: the Budapest Ring Road. I maintain that within the EU enlargement project alternative forms of political power have been built from below and that they eventually come to compete with the state (and local governments) to influence decision-making processes. These forms, to be individuated in the emergence of environmental activism, take shape at local, state and transnational levels and aim, although often contradictorily, at restituting political agency under the condition of lowering public participation in decision-making processes

Civil society · Economics · Environmental ethics · Environmental movement · European union · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Resizing · Social movement · Social science · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Social Science and Policy Research

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