Civil society in translation: innovations to political discourse in Southeast Europe

After the dissolution of the Soviet block and the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, the 1990s saw the emergence of new democratic and market institutions in these countries, most notably of post-communist civil-society organisations (CSOs). This research explores the processes of translation and localisation related to civil society. It draws on experiences related to civil-society development in Macedonia. The research supports the thesis that the overwhelming public perception of civil society in the countries of Southeast Europe (SEE), as non-homegrown and imposed from abroad, has to do not with their lack of historical precedence in the region but with the fact that its transitional political discourse was one of translation. This paper argues that the dissemination of the basic concepts of civil society is not simply a matter of conceptual and discursive import from the West and adjustment to it by CSO actors in the East.