Czech Women's Civic Organising under the State Socialist Regime, Socio-economic Transformation and the EU Accession Period

Abstract

The article describes Czech women's civic organising focused on gender equality & women's rights since the Second World War & explains its character & development in the context of (a) the state socialist regime, (b) the impact of foreign & international donors on Czech women's civic organising during the socio-economic & political transformation of the first part of the 1990s, & (c) the current process of the formalisation of Czech women's civic groups brought about by the Czech Republic's preparation for EU accession. The formalisation of women's civic groups is a process that consists of project-orientation, reform-orientation & the professionalisation of women's civic groups. In the era when the funding of women's civic groups has changed (as a result of EU Eastern enlargement) & the range of national political actors engaged in promoting gender equality has broadened (owing to pressure from the EU), these processes have brought about a shifts in the topics, activities, partnerships & strategies of Czech women's civic groups. These processes have contributed on the one hand to the marginalisation of those topics, activities & strategies previously addressed by some of Czech women's civic groups that do not fit in with the mainstream topics, activities & strategies defined by the EU (& by the EU influenced state). At the same time, however, some channels for having an impact on national decision-making processes have opened up to specific women's civic groups. EU Eastern enlargement paradoxically led to the orientation of women's civic groups towards national rather than supranational lobbying.