Socio-Cultural Preconditions of Velvet Revolutions in Central Europe and Ukraine

The focus of the research is on the theoretical and historical background as well as socio-cultural preconditions of revolutionary events in Central Europe and Ukraine in 1989-1991. Having powerful traditional and modern components, civil society in Central Europe acted as a culturally conditioned European social institution that shaped political objectives. On the contrary, due to weak intellectual reflection, Ukrainian society lacked theoretical conceptualization and cultural preconditions for deep political changes. The moral-regulatory and descriptive conditions for the development of civil society have not been fully implemented. Intellectuals were the leading force in the socio-cultural and historical changes in Central European countries. The weakness of the intellectual community in Ukraine, its dependence on colonial discourse has led to a serious complication of the processes of post-communist renewal and of the crystallization of the foundations of civil society in the newly established Ukrainian state.