Civil Society, Social Movements and Protest Mobilization in Belarus after 2020

A robust and independent civil society is seen as one of the key elements in mobilizing citizens within the democratization process. Social movements and civil society organisations (CSOs) perform somewhat different functions and have different aims and tactics. Rather than analysing them as separate entities, we explore their coexistence and potential interactions in the Belarusian case. Previously, both CSOs and social movements in Belarus were largely seen as weak and marginal. However, a set of diverse circumstances in 2020 resulted in the activation of formal CSOs and the appearance of new and diverse social movements. Although the mass protests of 2020 were heavily repressed by authorities, Belarusians continue their smaller-scale underground protest activities inside the country and engage in more open actions from abroad. These forms of resistance and self-help continue to undermine the legitimacy of the regime. This paper seeks to explore the unexpected formation of a wide range of new CSOs and social movements in a society previously assumed to be largely apolitical and apathetic, and the implications this development could have for political developments in Belarus and other authoritarian regimes. For this purpose, we conduct semi-structured interviews with 3 groups of respondents: representatives of CSOs and social movements in exile; Belarusian opposition politicians in exile; and ordinary Belarusians who participated in the protests in 2020. We address the following questions: 1). How and why did civil society in Belarus appear to undergo such a dramatic change in 2020? 2). What potential does civil society have for bringing about political change in authoritarian regimes? 3) What is the relationship between civil society organisations and social movements in times of mass political protest?