Political and public engagement as topological boundary-making: a critique of ‘Deficit’ approaches in post-communist CEE

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe attitude of citizens of the post-communist countries of the CEE region towards public and political engagement is described in the literature as deficient: characterised mainly by civic and political passivity, disenchantment or withdrawal to the private sphere. We challenge this narrative and use the example of Czechia to show that not only ‘deficits’ are present, but also that people have a different understanding of what is political. We point to strong technocratic attitudes in CEE and show that technocratic attitudes are associated with restricted views of political, pushing many issues into the non-political but morally conceived territory of engagement.