Revolution with a Human Face - by James Krapfl (Hardcover)

About the Book

In this social and cultural history of Czechoslovakia's "gentle revolution," James Krapfl shifts the focus away from elites to ordinary citizens who endeavored to establish a new, democratic political culture.

Book Synopsis

In this social and cultural history of Czechoslovakia's "gentle revolution," James Krapfl shifts the focus away from elites to ordinary citizens who endeavored--from the outbreak of revolution in 1989 to the demise of the Czechoslovak federation in 1992--to establish a new, democratic political culture. Unique in its balanced coverage of developments in both Czech and Slovak lands, including the Hungarian minority of southern Slovakia, this book looks beyond Prague and Bratislava to collective action in small towns, provincial factories, and collective farms.Through his broad and deep analysis of workers' declarations, student bulletins, newspapers, film footage, and the proceedings of local administrative bodies, Krapfl contends that Czechoslovaks rejected Communism not because it was socialist, but because it was arbitrarily bureaucratic and inhumane. The restoration of a basic "humanness"--in politics and in daily relations among citizens--was the central goal of the revolution. In the strikes and demonstrations that began in the last weeks of 1989, Krapfl argues, citizens forged new symbols and a new symbolic system to reflect the humane, democratic, and nonviolent community they sought to create. Tracing the course of the revolution from early, idealistic euphoria through turns to radicalism and ultimately subversive reaction, Revolution with a Human Face finds in Czechoslovakia's experiences lessons of both inspiration and caution for people in other countries striving to democratize their governments.

Review Quotes

I read Krapfl's book with excitement andadmiration. Revolution with a Human Face is an excellent work, the type which launches further research. Krapfl has radically changed how we must thinkabout the Czechoslovak revolution of 1989 by placing the people at its heart.He has further cast into relief the character of revolutionary processes and hasfound worthy insight therein into the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.

In this engaging book James Krapfl argues persuasively that average Czechoslovak citizens have been neglected in Western studies of the revolutionary events of 1989, with analysis of the writings and dissident intellectuals in Prague having been considered representative of the ideas and values of the revolution in all of Czechoslovakia. Krapfl proposes that the motivations for protests in 1989 were not geographically uniform and thus he aims to look closely at how the momentous events were experienced outside the capitals of Prague and Bratislava in towns and villages across the country, using archival material from a broad base of different localities.

In this study of Czechoslovakia's gentle revolution of 1989 (to use the originally applied phrase)Krapfl (McGill Univ.Canada) seeks to focus upon the experiences of ordinary citizens rather than political elites. He uses an impressively large range of documents along with the products of an unregulated press to present a narrative and analysis that is week by weeksometimes day by dayfor the months between November 1989 and the end of the Czechoslovak federation in 1992.... Krapfl is especially good at showing developments in all regions of the country and in provincial townsfactoriesand farms. He also shows how difficult it is to democratize government and how events lead to unintended consequences. A helpful chronology of events enables one to trace the welter of detail in this period.

Krapfl's research is supported by extensive analysis of documents from the citizens' associations that began forming in each region immediately following November 17. He conducted research not only in the larger state archives but also in more than two dozen regional archives throughout the Czech Republic and Slovakia.... The monograph presents a systematic analysis of these materials that offers a previously unseen picture of how Czechoslovak citizens engaged in the revolution. His findings are extremely interesting, illustrating the local nature and diverse concerns of citizens in each town and region and capturing the idealism of participants.... Revolution with a Human Face is recommended for regional specialists and scholars of social movements and revolutionary periods as well as graduate and upper-division undergraduates studying this history.

About the Author

James Krapfl is Assistant Professor of History at McGill University.