ABSTRACT
The key thrust of this book was to challenge some of the orthodoxies that exist in the literature on civil society in general, and on civil society in post-communist Eastern Europe in particular. In order to do so, we have assembled a collection of chapters that look in rich empirical detail at several organisations and movements in different Eastern European countries. In particular, we have chosen mainly groups that are often a priori excluded from civil society on both conceptual and normative grounds. Each chapter then offered analysis of these civil society organisations (CSOs) in terms of their mobilising strategies, their relationship with the state and political parties, their internal organisation and ideological goals, and their overall position in their respective political systems.
