From Charter 77 to the Velvet Revolution

This presentation focused on three themes: the lesson (or “gift”) of democratic dissent within authoritarian regimes (of which Charter 77 is a prime example); how such dissent could neither be predictive of nor assume the Velvet Revolution in 1989; and finally, how the idea of a “velvet” or non-violent revolution resonates (or does not) elsewhere in the region or the globally since 1989. Specific examples of all three themes were provided, building on her research and teachings in this area over the last three decades.

 

In his Heretical Essays on the Philosophy of History, the Czech philosopher Jan Patočka noted a phenomenon whereby persons whom violence has shaken out of their everydayness form empathetic bonds in rejection of violence.  He illustrated this “solidarity of the shaken” with testimony from French and German soldiers facing one another on the First World War’s Western Front, noting that it did not succeed then in becoming a force that might change the course of history, but asking whether it might.  It was in the hope of incarnating this possibility that Patočka collaborated in the creation of Charter 77, and “the solidarity of the shaken” proved to be one of Czechoslovak dissidents’ most successful ideas.  Most participants in the Czechoslovak revolution of 1989 understood their mobilization as a response of those shaken by violence in solidarity with its victims.  This presentation addressed these and other appearances of the phenomenon as a force in European history, including steps toward European unification after the Second World War, Polish Solidarity, Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, and European responses to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.  Patočka was cautious about what the solidarity of the shaken might accomplish; now that the number of historical examples has multiplied, we can assess how well Patočka’s prognosis has held up – and what the solidarity of the shaken might yet achieve.  

  

This presentation focused on the evolving strategy of human rights among dissidents and opposition groups in communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. It discussed three aspects of human rights - ethical, political and legal in both national and international contexts. It opened by an analysis of the post-1945 rise of human rights as a common legal and political denominator and then moves to the Helsinki Accords as a decisive breaking point in international politics and support of political dissent. The second part of the presentation focused on the process of drafting the Charter 77 and the contrast between its legalist format and civic aspirations which increasingly dominated dissident struggles of the 1980s. The perestroika and glasnost policies introduced in the second half of the 1980s are discussed against the background of gradual liberalisation and political transformations in some countries in the communist bloc and persisting repressions in Czechoslovakia leading to the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The revolutionary ethos, again, quickly transformed into legislative efforts and constitutional reforms incorporating human rights, most notably the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms as the material core of a new constitutional democratic order.

 

The concept of solidarity is widely used in intellectual debates and everyday discussions of political issues, but it appears to have manifold meanings, carrying a number of divergent claims and sedimented traditions. Historically, it hovers somewhere between its Roman origins, Christian adaptations, and its heyday in the leftist movements of political and social emancipation. Although the proclamation of solidarity throughout the 19th and 20th centuries became inseparably linked with the international workers’ movement and socialist ideals, it is significant that the very same word obtained an almost emblematic meaning as an anti-communist slogan in Czechoslovakia in the 1970’s and a bit later in the famous Polish movement named Solidarność. The talk pointed out conceptual similarities and differences with the ideal of fraternity and highlight Jan Patocka’s “Solidarity of the Shaken” as a communal bond that is not built on the firm ground of any shared identity but rather on existential upheaval.

 

The crisis of Communism and the practice of political autonomy

The crisis of the social contract in Eastern European countries during the 1970s and 1980s can be understood, in the context of the Cold War, as the triggering factor for the eventual disintegration of the bloc. The writings and actions of democratic opposition and self-organizing workers since the late 1950s offer an alternative perspective: a contemplation of the practice of political autonomy and the emergence of political subjectivity. The exercise of individual rights by citizens indeed sets in motion a self-stabilizing cycle where the public and private use of political autonomy mutually reinforce each other. This process ultimately leads to a self-determined life, where citizens confer their rights upon themselves.