Abstract
Over a period of three months, starting in late 2013, Ukraine experienced a remarkable civic transformation. What started as peaceful protests largely consisting of young idealists, grew quickly into an organized yet decentralized social movement, a conglomeration of semi-formal initiatives, and a loosely defined network of related formal and informal organizations—a process that ultimately prompted significant political and social changes in Ukraine. This paper offers three case studies related to EuroMaidan to provide insight into the formal and informal dimensions of civil society, contrasting those with official designations. The discussion contributes to the long-debated question of the strength or weakness of civil society in the context of Eastern Europe and suggests directions for future research with regard to the conceptualization of civil society and our understanding of formality.
Résumé
Vers la fin de l’année 2013, l’Ukraine a vécu, sur une période de trois mois, une transformation civique remarquable. Ce qui avait débuté comme des protestations pacifiques menées par de jeunes idéalistes s’est rapidement transformé en un mouvement social organisé, quoique décentralisé, un conglomérat d’initiatives semi-formelles et un réseau lâchement défini d’organismes formels et informels apparentés; un processus qui a ultimement provoqué des changements politiques et sociaux importants en Ukraine. Cet article présente trois études de cas concernant l’EuroMaidan pour informer sur les dimensions formelles et informelles de la société civile, qui s’opposent à celles accompagnées de désignations officielles. La discussion concerne la question longuement débattue de la force ou la faiblesse de la société civile dans le contexte de l’Europe de l’Est, et suggère des voies de recherche future sur la conceptualisation de la société civile et notre compréhension du concept de formalité.
Zusammenfassung
Ende 2013 erlebte die Ukraine über einen Zeitraum von drei Monaten eine bemerkenswerte zivilgesellschaftliche Transformation. Was mit friedlichen Protesten von weitgehend jungen Idealisten begann, entwickelte sich schnell zu einer organisierten, wenn auch dezentralisierten, sozialen Bewegung, einer Anhäufung semi-formeller Initiativen und einem ungenau definierten Netzwerk verbundender formeller und informeller Organisationen—ein Prozess, der letztendlich bedeutende politische und soziale Änderungen in der Ukraine herbeiführte. Der vorliegende Beitrag zeigt drei Fallstudien zum EuroMaidan, um einen Einblick in die formellen und informellen Dimensionen der Bürgergesellschaft zu geben, wobei diese den offiziellen Bezeichnungen gegenübergestellt werden. Die Diskussion ist ein Beitrag zur seit langem debattierten Frage über die Stärke bzw. Schwäche der Bürgergesellschaft im osteuropäischen Kontext. Es werden Leitfäden für zukünftige Forschungsarbeiten vorgeschlagen mit Hinblick auf die Konzeptualisierung der Bürgergesellschaft und unser Verständnis von Formalität.
Resumen
A lo largo de un período de tres meses, que comenzó a finales de 2013, Ucrania experimentó una notable transformación cívica. Lo que comenzó como protestas pacíficas consistentes en gran medida de jóvenes idealistas, se transformó rápidamente en un movimiento social organizado descentralizado, una conglomeración de iniciativas semiformales, y una red definida de manera laxa de organizaciones formales e informales relacionadas - un proceso que finalmente provocó cambios políticos y sociales significativos en Ucrania. El presente documento ofrece tres estudios de casos relacionados con EuroMaidan para proporcionar una mejor comprensión de las dimensiones formales e informales de la sociedad civil, que contrastan con las designadas oficialmente. El debate contribuye a la pregunta tan debatida de la fortaleza o debilidad de la sociedad civil en el contexto de Europa del Este, y sugiere directrices para investigaciones futuras con respecto a la conceptualización de la sociedad civil y nuestra comprensión de la formalidad.
从2013年晚些时候开始,乌克兰在三个月的时间内经历了极大的公民转换。主要由年轻理想主义者组成的安静抗议开始,这快速发展至有组织、但仍分散的社会运动,半正式计划的组合,以及相关正式和非正式组织的松散定义的网络—这一流程最终促进乌克兰的极大政治和社会变革。本文提供与亲欧盟示威相关的三个案例研究,从而获取民间团体的正式和非正式维度洞察,与官方定义形成对比。这一讨论有助于长期存在争议的问题,即民间团体在东欧背景中的优势和缺点,同时建议未来研究有关民间团体概念化的方向和对正式性的了解。
على مدى فترة ثلاثة أشهر، إبتداءا” من أواخر عام 2013، شهدت أوكرانيا تحول مدني ملحوظ. الذي بدأ بإحتجاجات سلمية على أنها تتكون في معظمها من مثاليين من الشباب، نمت بسرعة إلى حركة منظمة بعد اللامركزية الإجتماعية، مجموعة من المبادرات شبه الرسمية، وخليط شبكة تعريفها بشكل عام من الرسمية وغير الرسمية ذات الصلة بمنظمات - الإجراءات التي دفعت في نهاية المطاف أهمية التغييرات السياسية والإجتماعية في أوكرانيا. يقدم هذا البحث ثلاثة دراسات حالة متعلقة بالميدان الأوروبي لتوفير نظرة ثاقبة على الأبعاد الرسمية والغير الرسمية في المجتمع المدني، تلك المتناقضة مع التسميات الرسمية. المناقشة تساهم في جدال طويل لقوة أو ضعف المجتمع المدني في سياق شرق أوروبا، وتشير إتجاهات البحوث في المستقبل فيما يتعلق بمفهوم المجتمع المدني وفهمنا للإجراء الشكلي.
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Notes
Originally, a Cossack military unit in the Zaporizhzhya Sich (Ukraine), the term Sotnya literally translates from Ukrainian as “one hundred.” It roughly denotes “company” in military terms. Many informal organizations on Maidan popularly called themselves Sotnyas, and most defense units utilized that name adding to it either a number or a thematic or geographic designation. St. Michael’s Movement, before it adopted this name, first termed themselves the Mykhailivska (St. Michael’s) Sotnya.
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Krasynska, S., Martin, E. The Formality of Informal Civil Society: Ukraine’s EuroMaidan. Voluntas 28, 420–449 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-016-9819-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-016-9819-8