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The collection of essays in Secret Agents and the Memory of Everyday Collaboration in Communist Eastern Europe addresses institutions that develop the concept of collaboration, and examines the function, social representation and history of secret police archives and institutes of national memory that create these histories of collaboration. The essays provide a comparative account of collaboration/participation across differing categories of collaborators and different social milieux throughout East-Central Europe. They also demonstrate how secret police files can be used to produce more subtle social and cultural histories of the socialist dictatorships. By interrogating the ways in which post-socialist cultures produce the idea of, and knowledge about, "collaborators," the contributing authors provide a nuanced historical conception of "collaboration," expanding the concept toward broader frameworks of cooperation and political participation to facilitate a better understanding of Eastern European communist regimes. --

Cet article revient sur la méthode et la conception de la base de données numérique COURAGE, élaborée dans le cadre du projet H2020 COURAGE : Cultural Opposition – Understanding the Cultural Heritage of Dissent in the Former Socialist Countries . La base présente des collections documentant les activités culturelles de groupes ou d'individus marginalisés, réduits au silence, interdits de territoire, persécutés ou empêchés de poursuivre leurs activités par les autorités socialistes d'Europe de l'Est dans la seconde moitié du XX e siècle.

The COURAGE country reports provide nation-specific data in a European frame of reference to categorize and compare the various collections on cultural opposition in the former socialist countries. In principle, each former socialist country in Europe is treated in one report. To produce comparable data and categories for further analytical work, the country reports provide answers to a standardised set of questions. These questions are designed to produce comprehensive information on the collections. Questions address how the institutions which collected the records and products of cultural opposition in the former socialist countries were established, the concepts on which they were based, and the ways in which they have evolved from the late socialist period to the present day. Major actors, goals, and strategies are mapped, and major changes are put in the context of the political, legal, financial, and cultural conditions of the collections.

Policy brief prepared by the COURAGE H2020 project. The heritage and memory of opposition has gained particular urgency in view of neo-authoritarian tendencies in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. The values of pluralism, democracy, and open societies are not unquestioned anymore. During the period of state socialism, individuals and groups challenged one-party communist dictatorships. Many committed themselves to democratic and liberal values and insisted on human rights, civic freedom, and the autonomy of the individual. Opposition to oppression was often articulated through culture and the arts; cultural opposition challenged the communists' claim to a monopoly on knowledge, values, and norms. The heritage of cultural opposition against state socialism is today an important resource for social reflection and innovation in Europe. However, as COURAGE has shown, this resource needs to be better acknowledged, and its significant symbolic power should be better exploited. Study and ongoing discussion and debate of the heritage of cultural opposition will counter one-sided interpretations of state socialism and the exclusion of important groups and individuals from history. It offers valuable knowledge about the practices of freedom and strategies against authoritarian governments. Cultural opposition under state socialism was incredibly creative. A nuanced grasp of these examples of cultural creativity under adverse conditions can help stimulate innovative acts and initiatives today.

Policy brief prepared by the COURAGE H2020 project. The heritage and memory of opposition has gained particular urgency in view of neo-authoritarian tendencies in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. The values of pluralism, democracy, and open societies are not unquestioned anymore. During the period of state socialism, individuals and groups challenged one-party communist dictatorships. Many committed themselves to democratic and liberal values and insisted on human rights, civic freedom, and the autonomy of the individual. Opposition to oppression was often articulated through culture and the arts; cultural opposition challenged the communists' claim to a monopoly on knowledge, values, and norms. The heritage of cultural opposition against state socialism is today an important resource for social reflection and innovation in Europe. However, as COURAGE has shown, this resource needs to be better acknowledged, and its significant symbolic power should be better exploited. Study and ongoing discussion and debate of the heritage of cultural opposition will counter one-sided interpretations of state socialism and the exclusion of important groups and individuals from history. It offers valuable knowledge about the practices of freedom and strategies against authoritarian governments. Cultural opposition under state socialism was incredibly creative. A nuanced grasp of these examples of cultural creativity under adverse conditions can help stimulate innovative acts and initiatives today.

Policy brief prepared by the COURAGE H2020 project. The heritage and memory of opposition has gained particular urgency in view of neo-authoritarian tendencies in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. The values of pluralism, democracy, and open societies are not unquestioned anymore. During the period of state socialism, individuals and groups challenged one-party communist dictatorships. Many committed themselves to democratic and liberal values and insisted on human rights, civic freedom, and the autonomy of the individual. Opposition to oppression was often articulated through culture and the arts; cultural opposition challenged the communists' claim to a monopoly on knowledge, values, and norms. The heritage of cultural opposition against state socialism is today an important resource for social reflection and innovation in Europe. However, as COURAGE has shown, this resource needs to be better acknowledged, and its significant symbolic power should be better exploited. Study and ongoing discussion and debate of the heritage of cultural opposition will counter one-sided interpretations of state socialism and the exclusion of important groups and individuals from history. It offers valuable knowledge about the practices of freedom and strategies against authoritarian governments. Cultural opposition under state socialism was incredibly creative. A nuanced grasp of these examples of cultural creativity under adverse conditions can help stimulate innovative acts and initiatives today.

The COURAGE Short Version of Country Reports consists of summaries of the COURAGE Country Reports available at 10.5281/zenodo.2546692. The COURAGE Country Reports provide nation-specific data in a European frame of reference to categorize and compare the various collections on cultural opposition in the former socialist countries. In principle, each former socialist country in Europe is treated in one report. To produce comparable data and categories for further analytical work, the country reports provide answers to a standardised set of questions. These questions are designed to produce comprehensive information on the collections. Questions address how the institutions which collected the records and products of cultural opposition in the former socialist countries were established, the concepts on which they were based, and the ways in which they have evolved from the late socialist period to the present day. Major actors, goals, and strategies are mapped, and major changes are put in the context of the political, legal, financial, and cultural conditions of the collections.