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Abstract
This article provides an account of post-communist civil society in Latvia. Based on original survey data, the structure of civil society is analysed on both individual and organisational levels and cultural aspects are examined. The weakness of post-communist civil society found in much previous research is confirmed when measured on the individual level and in relation to some organisational aspects. The political culture of civil society in Latvia is relatively trusting, tolerant and pro-democratic, but elitist. The specific weaknesses of post-communist civil society can be attributed to the historical heritage of the communist regime as well as the context in which new foreign-funded civil society organisations emerged.
Notes
I use the concept ‘civil society organisations’ (CSOs) as it is somewhat more inclusive than non-governmental organisations (NGOs). While most of the organisations included in this study could be labelled NGOs, there are others such as trade unions and sports clubs which are not usually seen as NGOs.
See also the work by Lindén (Citation2008) and Uhlin (Citation2009).
The databases are referred to as Civil Society Activism in Latvia—activists (CSALSa) and Civil Society Activism in Latvia—public (CSALSp).
For discussion of this approach, see Armony (Citation2004, p. 182).
Among those who knew about CSOs in their city, town or village, political parties and social assistance organisations were most commonly mentioned, further emphasising the marginal impact of other types of CSOs.
See Lindén (Citation2008, pp. 88–98) for a more extensive analysis of the gender composition of Latvian civil society.
Trade union membership was equally common among non-citizens and citizens, but most other types of organisational memberships were much more common among Latvian citizens (Aasland Citation2002, p. 67).
Non-activists: N = 923, standard deviation 25. Activists: N = 499, standard deviation 25. Source: Civil Society Activism in Latvia—public (CSALSp) 2004 and Civil Society Activism in Latvia—activists (CSALSa) 2004.