Studies in European Integration, State and Society

This study considers the multidimensional nature of the construction of the active civil society in the post-totalitarian reality of Central and Eastern Europe, covering the period of systemic transformations in the region in 1989 to the EU accession of 2004. The analysis was carried out using a multidisciplinary research perspective which incorporates historical, sociological, and legal insights, as well as those from political science. The volume illustrates the dynamic character of the process of constructing an active civil society process in a broader comparative perspective against the background of post-totalitarian societies, Germany and Italy, which underwent the process of democratic transformation in 1945 and went on to actively forge the European Community in the 1950s.

The monograph explores the heritage of Central and Eastern Europe, which is particularly important nowadays in the era of globalization, on the one hand, and nationalism, on the other, and the war on the third hand. It can indicate ways to "face" the challenges Europe is currently facing. The research on the heritage issue aims to foster a greater understanding of the various mechanisms of today’s social and political decision-making. This publication is the result of the work of a team of scholars whose research explores the subject of the heritage and who represent countries and cultures belonging to the region. This is, therefore, research done from within according to the Latin principle: "Nihil novi nisi commune consensu" (Nothing new without the common consent). The publication allows defining terms and shows the distinctive features of the culture and value system characteristic of Central and Eastern Europe. It deals with issues related to the commemoration of the region’s heritage and the issue of what is excluded from the heritage, what is forgotten, and what is overlooked.