Hostility toward civil society: CSO perspectives on populism and shrinking civic space in the Czech Republic

• In Event: The backlash of the civic space in populist regimes

Abstract

Populism is a political ideology which imagines the state as the direct and immediate expression of ‘the people’. Consequently, civil society, as a realm of intermediate power and influence, is often viewed by populists with suspicion (Osborne, 2021). The implications of the rise of hostile populist environments in Europe over the last decade for civil society and third sector organizations have been increasingly explored, partly by extending notions of democratic backsliding and shrinking civic space to democracies with well-established and institutionalized civil societies.

In this paper, we give voice to representatives of Czech Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) engaged in supporting the integration and inclusion of refugees, minority and Roma communities. Some recent commentaries have suggested that the Czech Republic has not seen the same degree of democratic backsliding that has been witnessed in Hungary and Poland (Pospieszna & Pietrzyk-Reeves, 2022). For instance, the relative strength of civil society has been related the symbolic connection between civil society, secular liberalism and Czech national identity (Novakova, 2021). At the same time, several Czech CSOs are defined by what Petrova and Tarrow (2007) refer to as the transactional activism of state and EU-funded, professionalized, civil society (i.e. NGOism) in Central and Eastern Europe, in which the emphasis is on close ties with power holders, rather than grassroots participatory activism. This has often enabled CSOs to be positioned by some political voices as ‘outsiders’, and against the interests of ‘the people’.

Drawing on in-depth online interviews with 22 CSOs, we examine how civil society actors perceive changes in hostility toward civil society and in the capacity of civil society to respond. Our analysis shows that many of the CSOs were able to pinpoint migration crises as a turning point marking increasing attacks in the media on their organizations. Many also reported personal hate crimes as advocates of marginalised groups. This period also had implications for Roma civil society organizations whose experiences of hostility were longstanding. Various specific responses to hostility were identified in the interviews and included: improving communication strategies on social media, diversifying funding streams or an increasing emphasis in joining and sustaining new transnational networks. At the same time, it was clear how CSOs perceptions of their role in challenging populism meshed with their transactional status and some felt that outright challenging popular attitudes to migrants and minorities to be beyond the scope of their funded work. Others commented that they would no longer be able to speak out due to concerns about potential backlash. The paper, therefore, considers how civil society’s capacity to respond to hostility is linked to its governmentalisation.

References

Novakova, N. (2019) ‘Czechs back their civil society in spirit of 1989’, Transatlantic Take, German Marshall Fund, https://www.gmfus.org/news/czechs-back-their-civil-society-spirit-1989

Osborne, T. (2021). Civil society, populism and liberalism. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 34, 175-190.

Petrova, T., & Tarrow, S. (2007). Transactional and participatory activism in the emerging European polity: The puzzle of East-Central Europe. Comparative political studies, 40(1), 74-94.
Pospieszna, P., & Pietrzyk-Reeves, D. (2022). Responses of Polish NGOs engaged in democracy promotion to shrinking civic space. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 35(4), 523-544.

Author

• Robin Mann, Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD)