Civil society at the grass-roots

a reactionary view

Chris Hann

pp. 152-165

in: Paul G. Lewis (ed), Democracy and civil society in Eastern Europe, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 1992

Abstract

The perspective of a social anthropologist on the large issues addressed in this volume is very different from that of the other contributors. In this chapter I am concerned with the adequacy of concepts such as democratisation and civil society for an understanding of contemporary social transformations in Eastern Europe. Focusing upon a Hungarian community which I have known over the last 15 years, I shall argue that more attention should be paid to the needs and anxieties of citizens as they themselves express them in the context of their experiences under socialism. It seems to me that the discourse of civil society, particularly when linked to an extreme model of market economy, is an ideological product alien to most citizens. Many villagers regret the passing of an age when dogma and ideology were less obtrusive in their community and posed less of a threat to their welfare.