The term "parallel polis" came into common use among charter 77 signatories after Vaclav Benda coined the phrase "paralelni polis" (parallel polis) to refer to what was also often called an "independent" or "second society". The word "polis" was orignally used to designate the city-state of ancient Greece. In recent Czech usage it has come to be used as the equivalent of the word "obec" which connotes not only a municipality, or a religious parish or congregation, but also "community" in a more general sense. From "obec" is ...
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The term "parallel polis" came into common use among charter 77 signatories after Vaclav Benda coined the phrase "paralelni polis" (parallel polis) to refer to what was also often called an "independent" or "second society". The word "polis" was orignally used to designate the city-state of ancient Greece. In recent Czech usage it has come to be used as the equivalent of the word "obec" which connotes not only a municipality, or a religious parish or congregation, but also "community" in a more general sense. From "obec" is derived "obcan" - citizen and the adjective "obcansky" - civil or civic, or citizens. In preparing the book, one of the editors (H.G.Skilling) transmitted a questionnaire ("anketa") to a number of leading persons of charter 77 and other independent movements in Czechoslovakia. The twenty responses, as well as Benda's seminal essay, are given in the translation of Paul Wilson in this volume. (Seven of the responses appeared previously in "social research", 55, no. 1-2 (Spring-Summer 1988), pt.2, 211-46). The replies to the enquiry, received during the course of 1986 and 1987, where miniature essays, carefully thought out and well-written. Though they do not constitute a scientific sample of independent thought on this theme, they do record the views of leading "dissidents" on the nature of their own activities and on the potentialities of the latter for the future. They were written just prior to the outburst of independent activities under the impact of Gorbachev's policies of "glasnost" and "perestroika" and as the result of changing conditions in Soviet bloc countries. What is remarkable, however is that many of the essays contain prescient remarks about what has happened since the time when they were written and are still very relevant to the present and the future. The introductory essay seeks to set this entire discussion within the general context of the evolution of "independent civic activities" and the development of a "parallel society" in the whole of Central and Eastern Europe, including the Soviet Union, down to the time of writing, namely late 1989.
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