Gender and Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe

In the immediate aftermath of the fall of state socialism in Eastern and Central Europe, many western observers eagerly awaited the justification of the liberal democratic/capitalist model in the emerging social and political environments. The concept of "civil society', idealized by both western and eastern European political theory, was central to the discourse of transformation, and the voices of hitherto marginalized and repressed peoples were expected to emerge from the ruined regime of state-organized collectivity. The mobilization of women in particular, disproportionately affected by the social and economic hardship of transition, was keenly anticipated. This article looks at the ideological construction of civil society, which provided the context in terms of the language and identities available for political activism. It explores both the material and the ideological conditions that affected women's ability to mobilize and to form political and/or feminist identities during the process of transformation. It also contextualizes women's activism in relation to liberal-democratic politics and feminism. Two country case studies, Poland and Yugoslavia, provide empirical examples of the ways in which women formed groups and the kinds of political questions they posed. Further, they illustrate the impact of cross-currents, in which the transformation from socialism to democracy and a market economy met the ideological constraints of religious traditionalism and nationalism respectively. Placing the concepts of civil society and political identity in specific historical and cultural contexts in this way will help to explain the perceived "absence' of a women's movement in the region at this time.