ABSTRACT
Most observers of social change in Eastern Europe have pinned their hopes on civil society as the key to creating democratic politics after the demise of one-party states. The idea and ideal of civil society itself are rarely questioned. My aim, in contrast, is to argue that the analysis of gender relations and feminist politics in the region provides a necessary, critical perspective on the concept of “civil society.” The countries discussed in this collection are historically distinct and their current trajectories show increasing differences. Comparison among them is nonetheless instructive because they share structural similarities produced by their state-socialist past. I focus my discussion around two related questions.
