Old networks, new roles? The role of environmental think tanks in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Over the past years, studies on post-Communist transformations in Eastern and Central Europe have expanded their focus beyond political parties. They increasingly take into consideration the constitution of social actors and the field of interests groups. Nevertheless, this type of research essentially deals with economic interest groups and thereby analyses the relationship between society and the State through the lens of economic re-structuring. Another way to apprehend relations between the State and society is through the civil society approach. This paper suggests that the constitution of collective social actors reveals how a general interest is defined in a context characterised by political, economical and social changes and at the same time by the adoption of international and European norms. In the case of post-socialist societies, this process of defining general interests can be described as a construction of causes, whereas before 1989, societal interests were defined and imposed from above. The construction of the environmental issue in the Czech Republic constitutes an interesting vantage point from which to observe the interactions between a set of actors holding different perceptions of the environmental issue, which produces a non-definitive definition of the cause.

Key words:

• Environment
• think tanks
• post-Communism
• Czech Republic
• scientific community
• sustainable development
• european norms

Notes

¹ In the literature on the civil society in Central and Eastern countries, the notion is principally used according the definition by Linz and Stepan (1996) in a democratisation perspective or the political frame of Arato (2000).

² I adopted the definition of think tanks provided by Diane Stone and Mark Garnett (1998, p. 3): ‘they are relatively autonomous organisations engaged in the analysis of policy issues independently of government, political parties and pressure groups…Think tanks collect, synthesise and create a range of information products, often directed towards a political or bureaucratic audience, but also for the benefit of the media, interests groups, business and the general public. Sometimes; they can also be conceived as public-spirited civil society organisations that aspire to assist those engaged in policy thinking debate, and to educate or inform the wider community.’

³ Sources on the Ecological section from personal archives of a member, Stoklasa; and interviews with Bedřich Moldan and Ivan Dejmal.

⁴ It is necessary to mention that the first national and federal governments were still composed of Communist ministers.

⁵ This is a factor that supports the thesis that socialist societies have been permeable to international norms as they were formulated for example at the international conference of United Nations' Organisation, in Stockholm in 1972 and in Helsinki in 1975.

⁶ I should add the Czech green party, but in fact its influence was very weak during the 1990s. Since 2002 it has become a political force at the local level but has made little headway at the national level. For more details, see Devaux (2004).