Civil Society and Public Spaces

Keywords: Civil society, public spaces, revolutions, critical junctures
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Civil society, as a term, has become very popular during recent decades especially in the post-socialist/post-Soviet countries. One of the reasons for this is that after the collapse of the Soviet Union the post-Communist countries, among which Ukraine and Armenia, had their very first experiences of an active civil society with increasing numbers of NGOs and civic initiatives on various issues. Ukrainian and Armenian civil societies have been named among the most vibrant ones in post-Soviet area. Urban movements have been on rise both in Armenia and Ukraine since the 2010s. Civil society has served as the main driving force behind the Armenian Velvet Revolution in 2018, and participated actively in the Revolution of Dignity (or Euromaidan) in 2014 in Ukraine. Based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis, the paper will look at the developments in place-making in public spaces of the capital cities of Armenia (Yerevan) and Ukraine (Kyiv), specifically focusing on initiatives by civil society. It will shed light on the capacity of civil society to take up responsibilities that are supposed to be carried out by state, to be self-reliant, as well as on the ability of civil society to put pressure on governments when it comes to public spaces.