Rethinking Conceptualizations of Civil Societies in and beyond Post-Socialist Contexts

Based on an integrative review of research on European post-socialist civil societies over the past three decades, we critically examine: (1) how civil society is conceptualized and from whose position; (2) the methodologies employed in this knowledge production, including any reflections on the usefulness and conditions of such knowledge; and (3) existing knowledge gaps and areas where further development is needed within this body of literature. We distinguish between three theoretical approaches to European post-socialist civil societies, the Western-centric, critical, and triple-embedded approaches, based on their embeddedness in the field, closeness to the research subjects, and aspirations to include them in theory-building. We argue that a shift from a structural perspective on civil societies in the region has taken place into a perspective focusing on agency and developments on the ground in the past decade.