Samizdat and an Independent Society in Central and Eastern Europe

by H. Gordon Skilling

This study of the "independent life of society" (dissent) in Central and Eastern Europe examines the many forms of independent activity at work today. Included are autonomous family life, religion and nationalism, the second economy, "samizdat" communications, the second culture, including the alternative youth culture, parallel politics and social deviance. The author provides a comprehensive systematic analysis of independent historical and political writings in Czechoslovakia, Charter 77 and other forms of autonomous action in that country. He also makes a thorough survey of "samizdat" and other dissident activities in the USSR and the other countries of Central Europe, and assesses the validity of the concepts of an "independent" or "parallel" society which are widely used to interpret these phenomena. The author has published several books on Eastern Europe including "Czechoslovakia's Interrupted Revolution".

293 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-researched academic book. The writing style is, however, dry as sawdust and it could stand to be significantly shorter. Many passages are repeated almost word-for-word. Some parts, particularly the profiles on individual dissidents/ participants in "independent society" and the comparisons of the state of a developed "second polity" among the formerly Communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, were considerably more engaging.