The Parallel Polis After 12 Years

Abstract

Independent initiatives in culture, politics, and religion have become a fixture in Czechoslovakia over the past 12 years. Though unofficial activity did, of course, take place before 1977, there is no denying that the formation of Charter 77 had a decisive influence on the entire independent realm. In 1977, after nearly 30 years of communist rule, after the "normalization" that followed the 1968 invasion, Czechoslovak society was paralyzed. The creation of Charter reestablished a public domain independent of the government and beyond the reach of government manipulation; within the confines of a totalitarian system, a "parallel polis" was founded. To the surprise of nay-sayers and skeptics, the parallel polis has proved to be extremely resilient. Recent events suggest that communist ideologues intent on crushing independent movements will themselves be consigned to the garbage dump of history they had envisioned for the opposition. Human rights, a theoretical cornerstone of Eastern Europe's independent initiatives, are no longer the concern of a minority at the fringes of society, but are now at the very center of domestic and international politics. Across Eastern Europe, the holders of power face the prospect of having to abandon their totalitarian principles or watch the foundations of their power slowly crumble beneath them. But if Czechoslovakia's rulers must reevaluate