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CIVIL SOCIETY


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VÁCLAV HAVEL AND CIVIL SOCIETY
•https://www.vaclavhavel.cz/elearning/en/course/9
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•The Václav Havel Library collects, researches, disseminates, promotes and advocates the spiritual,
literary and political legacy of the author, playwright, thinker, human rights defender and
Czechoslovak and Czech president, Václav Havel.
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THE MAIDAN – WINTER 2013-2014, UKRAINE
•Lecture by Marci Shore, Associate Professor of History at Yale University, https://bit.ly/3JxWYjD
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•Part of the following Yale University course:
•Timothy Snyder: The Making of Modern Ukraine, https://bit.ly/3T8Yko0
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DEFINITION
•organized groups and institutions
•outside of the family, market and state
•represent or advance particular interests, values or causes of citizens
•some definitions: promote the public good
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THE RISE OF ILLIBERAL CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION
•publication by The Foreign Policy Centre - an independent, non-partisan international affairs
think tank based in the United Kingdom
•Published in July 2018
•covers: Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova
•illiberal, anti-Western and socially conservative civil society, anti-civil rights
•illiberal social attitudes, particularly in relation to LGBTI rights, women‘s role in society,
abortion, the attitudes toward ethnic and religious minorities
•linked to the dominant religious organisations in these countries such as the Orthodox Church, or
political factions with influence over state resources
•while some groups have direct or indirect contact with Russia, many do not and the primary drivers
of such activity are to be found in the local societies of the countries at hand
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•https://fpc.org.uk/publications/the-rise-of-illiberal-civil-society-in-the-former-soviet-union/

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CIVIL SOCIETY CONSISTS OF CITIZENS WHO VOLUNTARILY PARTICIPATE IN THE GOVERNANCE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
ARE YOU ACTIVE?
•Are you a member of a party, trade/labor union, business/professional organization, rights
advocacy organization, church/religious organization, sports/leisure club, cultural association,
another voluntary association, or an online group related to your interests?
•Have you taken part in a protest/demonstration/strike or social movement?
•Have you ever volunteered?
•Have you organized others around a common interest?
•Have you signed a petition?
•Have you donated money to a non-governmental organization or a social cause?
•Have you shared information about a public issue on social media?
•Have you contacted a politician or civil servant in respect to an issue you are concerned about?
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SITUATION IN YOUR COUNTRY
•Can you tell us about one interesting fact concerning civil society or human rights in your
country?
•Important or interesting non-governmental organization?
•Reasons for protests?
•Topics the civil society mobilizes itself around?