Since the 1990s, civil society – understood in a myriad of ways, but usually researched through the study of NGOs – has been viewed as a major agent in the promotion of democracy and civic engagement in Eastern Europe. In recent years, the focus has shifted to protest movements, which are seen as new, more genuine spaces of activism and as agents of social change.

This project goes beyond these two focuses by looking at forms of activism that are hard to notice because they seek neither financial support, which distinguishes them from NGOs, nor recognition, which distinguishes them from social movements and popular protests.

The project builds on earlier research conducted by Piotr Goldstein during his British Academy fellowship at the University of Manchester. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Poland, Hungary and Serbia, the project scrutinises discreet, everyday acts of citizenship, which could be considered ‘infrapolitics’ or ‘micro-politics’. They are an alternative mode of participation in contexts where other forms of activism appear impossible or ineffective, or where activists opt for a less radical, more long-term approach.