Happenings against totalitarianism - The Society for a Merrier Present in 1989
Happenings against totalitarianism - The Society for a Merrier Present in 1989

Author(s): Petr Blažek
Subject(s): Government/Political systems, Culture and social structure , Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), History of Communism
Published by: Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů
Keywords: Czechoslovakia; Communist regime; happening; totalitarianism; "Merrier Present"; demonstrations;
Summary/Abstract: The American historian Padraic Kenney dubbed events in Central Europe in 1989 a “carnival of revolution”. In his absorbing book he explores the activities of the new opposition groupings that gradually took shape in the second half of the 1980s. The ideological battles of the previous generations were either alien or not a matter of concern to their founders, who for the most part were members of the young generation. They had no illusions about the chances of reforming the political regime into which they had been born. They were focused on public events, organising various demonstrations, hunger strikes, petitions and happenings. Some of these became legendary. Among them were the street events of the Society for a Merrier Present (Společnost za veselejší současnost), which emerged several months before the fall of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

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