Is the past a burden or a boon? The struggle for survival of communist-era youth and nature protection organizations in the Czech Republic, 1989–2019

Abstract

After 1989, civic activity across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) began to thrive in numerous organizations, some of which were created during the Communist era. Whereas many civil society organizations (CSOs) do not carry the legacy of the Communist past, we know little about how CSOs that were created during Communism survive after 1989: Is their historical legacy a burden to carry and a detriment to their survival? Or can they use that legacy to survive the new tumultuous civic environment? This qualitative case study of three youth and environmental organizations with a Communist past – Pioneer, Brontosaurus, and The Czech Union of Nature Protectors (CUNP) – builds on a synthesis of new institutionalism and regime change theories to investigate how, from 1989 to 2019, CSOs balance the old legacies, such as dealing with Communist history, their continuing dependence on the state, and the radical change in political discourse on voluntarism and CSOs. Case studies reveal that, in adapting to the times, the CSOs did retain some elements of their Communist past but had to obscure other elements of their history from the new actors who regard that legacy unfavorably. Whereas foreign actors do help shape CSO agendas, the state remains the central actor in shaping the post-1989 institutional environment.