Introduction

Kacper Szulecki

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report typesChapterpeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

Was societal dissent to authoritarian regimes always an important point of academic interest? Unsurprisingly perhaps, given the Cold War mind-set’s preoccupation with warheads and state leaders, domestic dissent in Eastern Europe attracted Western attention quite late. This introductory chapter reviews the literature on societal opposition to Communist rule and lays out the approach of this book. Since dissidents function as transnational actors, the history of dissidentism needs to be transnational and makes use of various materials from both sides of the Iron Curtain and from across the region. Finally, I explain the theoretical underpinning and methodological approach resulting from emphasis on representation and following the Western gaze with its tendency to select and exclude certain objects over others.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPalgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Pages1-19
Number of pages19
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NamePalgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements
ISSN (Print)2634-6559
ISSN (Electronic)2634-6567

Keywords

  • Central Europe
  • Cold War
  • Dissent
  • Social movements
  • Transnational history

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