Velvet Capitalism

30 years after the Velvet Revolution, FEPS, in partnership with Masarykova Demokratická Akademie, the Czech office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the Academy of Science Institute of State and Law organises an dialogue to reflect about populist and bottom up movements aiming at changing the power structure of a political system.

The events of 1989 have been largely understood as a return to Europe, while the current developments in the CEE are understood as democratic backsliding. How accurate are such descriptions?

What does such an understanding, now dominant in the mainstream media and academia, tell us about the prevalent normative assumptions? Is it perhaps time to re-think our perceptions of the so-called Velvet revolutions in Europe?

The event will also be the opportunity to discuss the current populist movements and look into the rise of political mobilization in Europe and in the CEE countries specifically. What’s behind the surge of new populist movements? What does political mobilization mean for the future of liberal democracy? What can we learn from the CEE realities and how do they apply to the European project as a whole?

Programme and registration

This conference is also available as podcasts:

Welcome and introduction

Panel I: Post-communism and the legacy of 1989

Panel II: From protest to politics to protest