Marketing Social Change after Communism: the Case of Domestic Violence in Slovakia

Abstract

Most studies of postcommunist Eastern Europe provide macro-economic and political analyses of the democratic transition. This paper uses the case of feminists publicizing efforts around domestic violence in Slovakia to explore how people express and sustain collective action in transitional democracies without established traditions of civic engagement. The analysis is situated in the complex historical juncture of the 1990s, which includes Slovakia's impending admission to the European Union, while its population remains politically apathetic and suspicious of mass movements and organizations as a result of the country's communist legacy. Drawing on participant observation and in-depth interviews, it is argued that feminists’ strategic issue networks in the particular historical circumstances facilitated the speedy criminalization of domestic violence, but could not generate a cultural transformation of public and political attitudes. Sudden progressive legislative changes and the simplistic marketing campaign in a conservative political climate impeded the diffusion of a feminist definition of violence against women in related policy areas.

Citation

Vanya, M. (2006), "Marketing Social Change after Communism: the Case of Domestic Violence in Slovakia", Demos, V. and Texler Segal, M. (Ed.) Gender and the Local-Global Nexus: Theory, Research, and Action (Advances in Gender Research, Vol. 10), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 163-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1529-2126(06)10008-9