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Beyond NGO-ization: The Development of Social Movements in Central and Eastern

Europe
Kerstin Jacobson and Steven Saxonberg (eds.), Farnham, Ashgate Publishing, 2013
Why does the study of social movements in post-communist countries become essential after
an overall diagnosis of weak, donor-dependent, fragmented and NGO-ized civil society? Do
social movements in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) follow the same pattern of
development as their counterparts in the West? What are the specificities of the political and
social context? To what extent do the communist legacies still shape the post-transition civil
society in the region? How did political opportunity structures and resource mobilization
capacities of social movements change during the second and third decades of postcommunism? Did the European Union influence the political opportunity structure? Have civil
society groups become co-opted as a result of donor-dependency, showing thus moderation
and non-disruptive character of their mobilizations? Have social movements in the region
become professionalized organizations chasing funds than mobilizing constituencies, or is it
time to move beyond the NGO-ization hypothesis? Beyond NGO-ization: The Development of
Social Movements in Central and Eastern Europe provides rich and updated empirical
answers to these questions, while it offers a nuanced portrait of social activism and the type
of civil society organization happening in post-communist countries. It rigorously integrates
theoretical approaches with empirical evidence drawn predominantly from case studies. It
deliberately broadens the groups analyzed, capturing under investigated social movements,
such as gay rights, animal rights, environmental movements, conservative women, mothers,
and family organizations, as well as anti-immigration xenophobic movements or the Color
Revolutions.
The volume is organized into eleven chapters with recurring themes, cross-cut by critical
reflections on and evaluations of the NGO-ization hypothesis. All contributors address, to
varying degress, the types and forms of mobilizations taking place in post-communist
contexts, the diversity of repertoires of action, the heterogeneity of groups lying behind
contentious activities, the different framing strategies, and their funding resources. Their
results challenge previous conceptualizations of social activism in CEE, as characterized by
civic organizations chasing grants and focusing on their own survival instead of participating
and mobilizing society for concerted collective action. In the same light, the studies question
the common dichotomies between formal bureaucratized groups and informal nonhierarchical collectivities, between service-providing organizations and groups engaged in
more disruptive contentious activities, or likewise between grassroots collectivities and
professionalized organizations, showing different groups, a variety of mobilizations, and
diverse, complementary, sometimes overlapping repertoires of action, contingent on political
opportunity structures or resource mobilization capacities.
While some of the chapters concentrate on single kinds of movements, others undertake
various types of social movements. In what follows, five essential aspects are addressed, as
they characterize most of the cases approached in the present volume, namely: massmobilization capacity, diversity of social activist groups, framing, funding, and repertoires of
contention. The NGO-ization hypothesis crosscuts all the above dimensions.
First, the thesis of moderate potential for collective action in post-communist settings is
challenged through empirical illustrations of the diversity of cases approached. Political
opportunity structures and framing options constitute strong factors affecting the mobilizing
power in the region. With the prevalence of animal welfare groups, the Polish animal rights
movement does not engage in disruptive forms of contention, the only radical actions consist
of painting animals on fur farms and releasing them from captivity or painting graffiti illegally.
Jacobson explains the absence of non-confrontational tactics through their illegitimate
character towards supporters and the negative impact on their economic resources, primarily
of domestic nature. Similarly, less homophobic attitudes and a weaker Church in the Czech
Republic have discouraged mass-mobilizations around identity politics within the gay rights
movement, whilst favored advocacy networking and professional lobbying. Substantiating the
cycles of protest theory, the movement went into abeyance, followed by a current revival
difficult to account for at this stage. In the same manner, the Russian case studies show that
when adverse political opportunities arise, social movement groups successfully employ
alternative methods to mobilization to achieve their goals, such as confronting the state
through litigation, keeping the population informed while building networks and growing a
sense of solidarity among the population. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, ethno-territorial

divisions shape the kind of mobilization along ethnic lines rendering them difficult to be
transgressed, while obstructing nation-wide protests, cooperation or networking between
environmental groups. Contrary to the NGO-ization thesis, the study of Fagan and Sircar
show that the main reason for the absence of direct confrontation with authorities in the case
of environmental groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina is actually the lack of NGOs capacity.
In turn, the case of the mothers movement in Poland consisting in initiatives and actions of
women acting as mothers to make political claims, contradicts the low potential for
mobilization in post-communist countries, while showing how the domestic political and
cultural order or the institutional settings as the popular initiative mechanism, made possible
successful protests for certain movements whose goals and ideology fit the dominant
discourse and the existing opportunity structures. Likewise, the home-birth movement in
Hungary proved capable of mobilizing its disconnected network of activists and supporters,
both nationally and transnationally, obtaining the legalization of home-birth, but not the
release of Dr. Gerb that triggered the emergence of the movement.
Accordingly, Saxonberg shows that groups do not necessarily choose between mobilization
and professionalization, neither that the former is preceding the later, but rather that social
activists embrace a variety of strategies instead of limiting to participatory action. Supporting
this view, Cisar indicates five types of political activism employed in the Czech Republic to
different degrees and frequencies. Besides the established transactional activism thought to
characterize CEE and the classical participatory activism of Western tradition, civic selforganization, episodic mass-mobilization and radical activism, complete the rich picture of
collective action in the region.
Secondly, while it demonstrates a wide variety in kinds of mobilizations, the present volume
also shows the diversity of social activist groups within and between post-communist
countries. The case of mothers rights in Poland suggests that researchers on CEE usually
focused on the most visible and patently identifiable feminist and womens rights
organizations, excluding essential aspects of social activism. A crucial and often ignored
element revealed by the study, is the class and social status dimension of women activists
legitimacy to make claims. Thus, mothers advocating for perinatal care were having a high
social position and integrated neoliberal discourse, while the poor mothers claims on housing
were coming from a marginalized group and were subversive in nature, attempting to
undermine the general order, which turned into their individual blaming and depiction as
unworthy or inhuman. The result was the success of the first movement and the failure of the
second. Similarly, Jacobson on animal rights activism, analyzes the scission of the movement
between animal welfare and animal rights proper organizations with a preponderance of the
former, further supported by the current domestic political opportunity structure. Again, while
the first movement gained recognition and support, the second was overlooked. Besides the
variety of social movements, these studies show how certain groups acquire resonance and
influence over policy-making while others do not.
Thirdly, social movements in post-communist contexts adapt and change the terms of their
claim framing, to various degrees according to specific circumstances. Post-material values,
identity claims or (re)distributive justifications form specific configurations to serve the
domestic cultural settings. In illustration, framing mothers rights in connection with the
prevailing cultural gender order along with the neoliberal values characterizing Polish
transition, brought about the success of the movement advocating an alternative approach to
pregnancy, birth and perinatal care compared to poor mothers movement that were
undermining the dominant societal discourse. Framing pregnant womens demands in terms
of civil rights was perceived as legitimate since it chimed with the nationalist discourse of
motherhood. In contrast, the actions of poor mothers were framed in terms of social and
economic rights and did not resonate, as they didnt accommodate the individualist and
consumerist character of the Polish neoliberal transition. Likewise, family and womens
groups in Hungary and the Czech Republic show that conservative women organizations face
a more open political context than the feminist ones, as the political opportunity structures
have a cultural component that is dominated by conservative views. But as Saxonberg
emphasizes, this argument is not sufficient to explain their success that stems from their
choice of strategies.
Post-material and postmodern values characterize the demands of both the massmobilizations in the Czech Republic surrounding human rights and environmental issues and
the home-birth movement in Hungary aimed at challenging the patriarchal regulative

framework of birth and successfully succeeding. Cisar explained the Czech case by
international civil society assistance programs during transition.
Despite the general conclusions of the present volume, that social movements claims in CEE
are by and large economically driven, the empirical evidence of the contributors show a more
nuanced picture. For instance, in the case of the social movement against immigration in
Russia, Zakharov demonstrate that the radicalization of the movement merges identity and
distributive frames. The racialization of the social movement nation-wide is realized through
attributing racial signification to collective action and is justified through claims of distributive
justice. In contrast, in Bosnia and Herzegovina the environmental movement had to frame its
demands in terms of economic, cultural or folkloric reasons because ecological justification as
post-material value did not find an audience. The case shows how people prioritize economic
and ethnical advantages instead of post-material environmental well-being.
Fourthly, according to the NGO-ization thesis, social movements in post-communist settings
tend to professionalize themselves and to concentrate their efforts on getting foreign grants,
creating a dependency on donors that moderates their capacity for collective action and
guides their activities. This volume, in contrast, provides empirical evidence across the region
that supports a rather opposite conclusion. Thus while there are undoubtedly organizations
that have the capacity and desirability to access international funds, the vast majority of the
cases studied, shows that many social movements rely on domestic economic resources, or
when these are lacking, organizations and groups compensate through cultural and social
capital, media or online networking. To illustrate, the Polish animal rights movement fails to
conform to the international donor-dependency pattern and relies mostly on domestic
contributions coming from private donations and the 1 percent rule that allows citizens to
donate 1% from their income tax to NGOs Therefore, it is the domestic opportunity structure
that affects the movement organizations and not the international one as previously
suggested. In the same manner, the Czech gay right movement has relied on domestic state
resources that may have rendered mass-mobilization unnecessary and favored negotiations
and compromise for legal changes. Moreover, the case of local urban activism in Russia
shows that since international funding is not accessible to grassroots movements in the
country, they lean more on local and domestic financial resources. In contrast, in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, environmental groups rely primarily on European Union funds linking the
transformation of the movement to the process of Europeanization. Fagan and Sircar argue
that, despite the NGO-ization thesis, although these international funds have supported the
development of environmental governance in post-communist settings, local factors diminish
the influence of international donors.
Fifthly, the differences in terms of political opportunity structures, framing, funding availabilities
or social capital of the activists generate a variety of repertoires of action forming different
configurations used by social movements in CEE settings to influence decision-makers or to
support their constituents, again challenging previous dichotomies between service providing
and mobilization oriented groups and organizations. Political lobbying, educational activities,
self-help work, charity, courtroom litigation, service oriented activities, demonstrations or
mass-mobilizations are concurrently combined or periodically inter-changed according to an
accumulation of factors shaping the particular context of a movement. Cisars study supports
the diversity of repertoires hypothesis differing by activism type with petitions and
demonstrations being the most common strategies employed in the Czech Republic. In the
same manner, Saxonbergs study about women and family organizations in Hungary and the
Czech Republic, shows that organizations in post-communist contexts choose among
different repertoires, contentious or not, in abeyance or with a strong mobilizing potential. As
for these two cases, the evidence provided by the research shows that the alliance-building
capacity of family and women organizations has influenced policies through strategic
connection with political entities, but when alliances prove inadequate or deficient, the
movement has managed to successfully mobilize people as in the case of the Hungarian
National Association of Large Families. In fine, the empirical evidence challenges the
assumption according to which a social movement transforms into a service providing
organization after institutionalizing itself. It is rather the opposite: groups starting as self-help
organizations later turn to contentious activities proving a high mobilizing capacity.
The Polish case of Animal Rights Activism presents a notable specificity in terms of
movement repertoires of contention when compared to its international homologues. Activists
in this country typically avoid direct confrontation and are not engaged in animal liberation.
Their actions are channeled, as Jacobson puts it, towards animal charity, by movement

supporters and adherents that redirect 1 percent of their taxes to the benefit of animal rights
organizations. Other movements in the region have demonstrated that the extensive use of
new information and communication technologies (ICTs), to build transnational networks
aiming at pressuring the government to change its policies, are effective. For instance, the
home-birth movement in Hungary showed substantial capacity of online networking and
mobilization that triggered transnational protest, emphasizing a twofold element of novelty
since previous research revealed that protests remain in great part national and that pregnant
women or mothers with little children have weak potential for mobilization. By contrast, after
failing to influence policies, in the absence of political and material resources, the Taganka 3
group in Russia, which advocated for local urban activism, changed its tactics to legal
pressure.
Aiming to provide a refined and up to date perspective on social activism in post-communist
settings, the case studies in this volume examine a variety of civil society groups. These
groups adopt different types of strategies, with varying and sometimes contrasting frames.
Like the images of a kaleidoscope, each movements actions reconfigure the constituent
pieces thus creating new configurations that surprise with their novelty, vitality and
heterogeneity. The chapters in this volume are theoretically and empirically ample, make
cogent arguments, and challenge previous representations of CEE social activism as weak,
international donor-dependent, and on the path to NGO-ization. That image may have been
accurate for the first decade of transition, but, as the cases here show, it is undeniably
questionable in post-transition. Notwithstanding the fact that the volume provides rich
explanations in terms of political structures, framing, repertoires of contention and group
variety, it generally fails to account for the identity of activists. Although class and social status
were considered in some of the case studies, the collective identity of social movements was
left unexamined. Moreover, although trying to fill the gap in previous research, coming from
an expectancy of post-communist social movements to follow the same pattern as their
Western counterparts, the contributions omit the question of the appropriateness of using the
conceptual and methodological toolkit of social movements developed in the West, to study
activism in post-communist settings. As Saxonbergs and Jacobsons conclusion emphasizes,
there is a need for more comparative research for an accurate representation of social
movements in the region.
Finally, it should be acknowledged that the volume concentrates on a rather limited number of
countries in CEE, specifically Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Russia, and BosniaHerzegovina. The final chapter addresses Color Revolutions in Ukraine and Serbia. Including
Romania as a case might also be useful for testing the NGO-ization thesis. Its domestic
feminist movement provides an insightful example. While during the first decade of transition,
the movement was characterized by a flourishing NGO sector and the development of gender
studies programs in universities, it was just in 2000 that the first feminist mobilization took
place, after the fall of the communist regime. Yet, street protest was actively included in the
repertoire of contention of the Romanian feminist movement in the last few years. Moreover,
social activists started to mobilize also within general protests, usually organized during the
previous decades by trade unions. Since mobilizations are mostly set up across specific lines
and thematics, the intersection between different social movements on street protest level is
rarely taken into consideration, as shown by the case studies in the present volume.
Notwithstanding these limitations, the present volume opens a novel approach on social
movements in CEE that goes beyond the common NGO-ization diagnosis, marking a turn in
the study of social activism in the region, while calling for further, particularly comparative,
research.

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