University of Tasmania
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Opposition and Dissent in Soviet Type Regimes: Civil Society and its Limitations

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 06:46 authored by Matthew KillingsworthMatthew Killingsworth
Following the collapse of Communist regimes in 1989, academics and dissidents alike were quick to claim that agents of ‘civil society’ had played an integral role in the 1989 ‘Velvet Revolutions’. However, the appropriation of civil society to explain events in Eastern Europe is highly problematic. In arguing that civil society offers an inappropriate framework in which to study opposition and dissent in Soviet type regimes, this article recommends dismissing the typology for this particular scenario. Instead, a new typology, the totalitarian public sphere, is introduced. This article concludes by elaborating on why the totalitarian public sphere serves as a more comprehensive typology by which to explain dissent and opposition in Soviet type regimes.

History

Publication title

Journal of Civil Society

Pagination

59-79

ISSN

1744-8689

Department/School

School of Social Sciences

Publisher

Routledge

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Government and politics not elsewhere classified

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC