Civil Society Renewal

Civil Society

ISSN 1230-2155

31

9 771230 215021

Civil Society RenewalNEW GENERATION

DIGITAL AGE IN CENTRAL EUROPE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE CONDITION OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN CENTRAL EUROPE

4 The Necessary Renewal

6

The Origins of Anxiety piotr górski

Threats agasinst civil society, and its future in Central Europe

THE IDEA OF CIVIL SOCIETY

12 Self-government, Dignity, Solidarity – What Does the Polish Tradition Teach Us?

– a conversation with professor andrzej mencwel

If you can establish by yourself, without harming others, but in cooperation with others, you need fewer formal arrangements and demands by authorities

THE SITUATION IN POLAND

15

Pressure from the Anti- Pluralism Movement

jakub wygnański

Methods for shaping, protecting and cultivating an open society

19 The Beneficiaries of Civil Society łukasz domagała

The government’s new policy on civil society benefits the rulers

21 Beyond Formalised Structures katarzyna iwińska

Increasingly, citizens flee from institutionalised activities. This is a challenge for professionalising civil society and raising funds

23 The Golden Mean dorota pietrzyk-reeves

Bottom-up initiatives need support, but not one that is based on developing a specific vision of civil society

25 Money and Standards mateusz halicki

Many non-governmental organisations function on an unhealthy, project-based model

THE SITUATION ACROSS CENTRAL EUROPE

27

Performing Different

Roles andrej nosko

The lack of adequate representation from political parties espousing various, societal viewpoints means that this responsibility must be reluctantly taken up by civil society

30 Working in Their Dream veronika móra

If you don’t follow Viktor Orbán’s plan – assuming good relations with the authorities as well as with the Church – you can not ensure a stable and functioning organisation

32 Do Not Go This Way juraj rizman

There is a fear in Slovakia that the authorities will apply measures to non-governmental organisations similar to those in Hungary and Poland

RECOMMENDATIONS

35 Civil Society in the Digital Era

DATA SET

36 Social Activity of the New Generation

THE CONDITION

TOWARD REGENERATION

In recent years, civil society has become a more recognisable topic due to the attacks by some politicians and the media on organisations focused on human rights, including migrants, gender equality, watchdog activity or by the tightening up of regulations towards those who use foreign funds, for example in Hungary. In Poland, “The National Institute of Freedom” was established to be a strong actor in shaping the world of NGOs in accordance with a framework set up by the government. For these reasons, many associations and foundations are facing financial difficulties threatening their entire activity.

In addition, the condition of the third sector is being affected by a generational issue – not only through the participation of young people in social life, but also the considerable impact the twenty-and thirtyyear-olds are having on the actual shaping of civil society. In Central Europe, modern civil society emerged in opposition to the communist-era authoritarian powers, and then the same people – in cooperation with those who entered into adulthood in the free world of the 1990’s – continued to form organisations and shape the surrounding environment.

At least in terms of building the new order, they were fortunate to live in an epochal moment and became the founding fathers and mothers of these social microcosmos in each country of the region, and no one can ever take these achievements from them. Many of them still play important, almost iconic, roles in civil society.

On the ngo.pl portal, which is the main forum for exchanging knowledge, information and opinions on civil society in Poland, a discussion on a generational change in the world of non-governmental organisations has been underway since October.

In an invitation to this discussion, Hanna Frejlak notes that in the public debate “the generational gap is clearly reflected around the question of value”.

While for some it is important to stress personal freedoms, guaranteed by the state which are guarding them, and a well-functioning market, the »young« people are paying attention to such values as, inter alia, social security, rights of sexual minorities, or ecological issues

However, the author of the invitation adds doubts related to the inevitability of a conflict between the generations. More importantly, she notes that it affects “not only the aforementioned conflict of values – but also such matters as a distribution of prestige, different forms of activity, different experiences and results in unequal representation in public space, not only political” 1 .

Generational change is inexorable if civil society is to survive but also if it is to become stronger. Certainly, it will not look like it used to; it will not take its new shape from the dreams of those who built its foundations – in the communist era and after ‘89. It will be created by new people who will differentiate the accents in values and topics, and they will use new technologies – both for action and for raising funds.

Crowdfunding platforms, the “uberisation” of activities and work within civil society, social campaigns or protests in social media – as was the case of Black Monday or #MeToo movement – activity and cooperation outside formalised structures: all this belongs to the instruments of social activists and direct beneficiaries of their actions. These new possibilities also bring threats to civil society due to the decrease in trust due to widespread disinformation and deep fakes, closing us off in information bubbles or even progressing atomisation, or competing with the increasingly easily supplied entertainment.

The challenge is also continuity; what will be conveyed to and what will remain for the new generation? This resembles, to some extent, the dilemma from a hundred years ago when Poland regained its independence. It was covered by Stefan Żeromski in the novel Przedwiośnie, during a conversation between Cezary Baryka and Szymon Gajowiec about the usefulness of

4 respublica

having your own state and the experience of building a “civil society” during the times of partitions and functioning under foreign powers.

Today, it seems that the breakthrough forcing us to ask a similar question (about the usefulness of our previous experience) is not as much related to the transformation from nearly thirty years ago as connected to the technological changes. Can the existing forms of cooperation still be useful and effective in building a strong civil society in the digital era? Can the experiences of fathers and grandparents, mothers and grandmothers still be useful? In the coming decades, we will see how well the younger generation has been prepared to renew the common world.

The constant task of renewal by successive generations was recognised by Hannah Arendt as a condition for the survival of the world. The preparation for such a task lies on the side of previous generations and is testimony to their love and readiness to take

responsibility for the world. Civil society, for both younger and older citizens, can be a school of responsibility and a place of renewal. On the other hand, it is certainly a magma, a matter difficult to grasp in research and analysis – shapeless, still in motion, within which various formal and informal activities are located, hot with passion and the involvement of people creating it – a power capable of erupting. When that happens, the “lava” will spill onto the streets or across our news feeds on social media.

If this change awaits us in the coming years, it is worth seeing what we will inherit and from where we started.

Editorial Board

1. Hanna Frejlak, Czy organizacje potrzebują zmiany pokoleniowej?, https://publicystyka.ngo.pl/czy-organizacje-potrzebuja-zmiany-pokoleniowej-zapraszamy-do-dyskusji [dostęp 18.11.2018].

THE CONDITION5