BELARUS — THE THIRD SECTOR PEOPLE CULTURE LANGUAGE Warsaw — Minsk 2002 BELARUS — THE THIRD SECTOR PEOPLE CULTURE LANGUAGE East European Democratic Centre — IDEE Warsaw — Minsk 2002 ISBN 83-916658-3-6 Edition prepared in co-operation with Belarusian Association of Resource Centres (BARC) Civic Society “Dyaryush” “Arche” magazine Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe Foundation Editing: Pawe³ Kazanecki, Marta Pejda Co-operation: Vaclav Areshka Translation from Belarusian and Russian: Piotr Kalachin, Mark Bence Translation from Polish: Patrick Montague Proof-reading: Patrick Montague, Mark Bence, Marta Pejda Graphic design: Vitaly Levchenya Typesetting: Julia Andreyeva, Timofey Nevinskiy We wouldlike to acknowledgefollowingorganisationsfor their valuableassistance: The “Ratusha” Centre Independent Society for Law Researches The “Law Initiative” Society “Nasha Niva” “International Contact” The publication supported by The National Endowment for Democracy Open Society Institute — Paris Charles Stewart Mott Foundation 2 CONTENTS 4 Pawe³ Kazanecki Introduction. 6 Andrey Dynko A Resisting Culture. 10 Vaclav Areshka Cultural Movements in Belarus. The 20th Century. 18 Olga Kopyonkina Albarussia: Logic of the Nomos. 20 Alena Areshka Violation of Cultural Rights in Belarus. 27 Syarhey Sakharau Youth Subcultures origins and Development. 33 Syarhey Zaprudski LinguisticPolicy of the Republic of Belarus in the 1990s. 41 Ihar Lalkou National Symbolism in Belarus: the Past and Present. 49 Henadz Sahanovich The War Against Belarusian History. 54 Valer Bulhakau From the Rhetoric of Brotherly Unity to the Rhetoric of International Integration. Artefacts from Contemporary Official Belarusian Ideology. 64 Feliks Gawin Report on Observation of Rights of National Minorities in Harodnya Region. 75 Yauhen Androsik Confessions. 82 Alaksandar Shalayka, Syarhey Mackevich Non-Governmental Organisations and the Presidential Election in Belarus in 2001: the First Step Made, We Are Moving On. 89 Boris Zvozkov Decree No. 8 Comments. 90 Elena Tonkacheva Non-profit Organisations in the Republic of Belarus. Legislative Regulation and Issues of Law Application. 100 Viktar Karneyenka The Third Sector in Homel An Analysis of the Situation. 110 Alaksandar Shalayka What Is the Assembly? 111 Selected NGOs Description of Activity. This edition contains a CD-Rom with a database of the Belarusian non-governmental organisation, prepared by the Belarusian Association of Resource Centres (BARC), as well as electronic version of both the publications Belarus the Third Sector (1998) and Belarus the Third Sector. People Culture Language (2002). 3 Pawe³ Kazanecki INTRODUCTION The present publication was prepared as a result mean a loss of contacts and its expulsion from or- of co-operation among several organisations. The ganisations associating academies of science Eastern European Democratic Centre — IDEE would from various countries, as only those organisa- primarily like to thank the journal “Arche,” which pre- tions can be members whose governing bodies pared the Belarusian-language edition, the Associa- are selected internally by academy members. tion “Kulturny Kantakt,” whose co-operation in the In wanting to show this discourse in a broader selection of authors was invaluable and to which we context we included articles illustrating the dispute are also grateful for the culture-related material. We concerning the official language, national and state would also like to thank the Belarusian Association of symbols as well as the history of the cultural move- Resource Centres (BARC), which prepared the inter- ment in Belarus. The struggle for recognising the active database of Belarusian non-governmental or- position of the Belarusian language is not only a ganisations included with this publication on CD. struggle within the cultural sphere of this country, We are pleased to present the new publication, but it is also a struggle against the administrative which in some sense is the continuation of the book aim of soviet cultural unification and limiting cul- “Belarus: The Third Sector” published two years turallife to that approved by the state.A similar pol- ago. As the previous publication generated signifi - icy is conducted in regard to every manifestation of cant interest both in Poland and abroad (the Eng- cultural diversity as well as in relation to national lish-language edition), we decided to prepare a minorities and various religious faiths. publication that updates the information concerning All articles illustrating socio-political problems are non-governmental organisations in Belarus, as well woven around the main axis of conflict between the as illustrates the social processes occurring in this two cultural-ideological attitudes held by the country in a way that raises many controversies and Belarusian elite: the post-soviet, with soviet symbols questions, i.e., the revival of national identity. and a belief in the need for eternal ties between In presenting the social discourse that has en- Belarus and Russia, and the second, with Belarusian gaged Belarus for years, we want to demonstrate national symbols, a belief in the tradition of Belarusian the language and arguments that both sides of the statehood, originating from the Grand Duchy of Lithu- conflict employ. We present the language of the ania, and seeing a need to build an independent and regime’s official propaganda, employing the old neutral Belarus, oriented toward Europe. This dispute soviet rhetoric, which currently is based on nei- between the two elites is a sign of the deep and long ther a real system of values nor a real strategy. lasting process of transformation that has been occur- Censorship in historical literature and school text- ring in Belarusian society following the collapse of the books is used for political purposes.Various types Soviet Union. The process of change occurring in the of cultural and artistic events are censored and elites is only one of its manifestations. closed. A recent event that upset the Belarusian A change of elites is occurring in all post-com- scientific community was the decision of the Pres- munist countries. In various countries this process idential Administration of the Republic of Belarus is occurring more or less painfully. It is however un- concerning the appointment of the Chairman of avoidable for the development of each of these the Belarusian Academy of Science. Even during countries. The elites, able to exert an impact on the the Soviet era the state did not so clearly interfere further development of the state, are the guarantors in the affairs of the Academy. The appointment of of success of all reforms undertaken in Belarus. the Chairman is also connected with a change in These elites are able to free the country from inter- the structure of the Academy and the interference national isolation, which results not from external of the state administration in personnel decisions. factors, but to a certain degree from the fear felt by For the Belarusian Academy of Science this will the Belarusian elitesof operating in aglobal context. 4 This deep social conflict is difficult to define from Therefore, emigration is frequently chosen as a solu - the perspective of political disputes in western demo- tion. Interest is also growing in radical paramilitary cratic countries, discussions between left and right, organisations of various ideological stripes. The in- held in parliaments and preceding according to estab- creasing degree of fascism in street life is one of the lished rules. However, in Belarus, basic principles of most unsettling phenomena. political discussion such as the state’s raison d’˜tre and Between these two groups is society, which has its independence, model of government (totalitarian- taken an indifferent attitude toward the continuing ism or democracy) and the role of society in the struc- conflict of these groups. Society has long ago for- ture of the state are violated, as not only the model of gotten what the dispute among the Belarusian polit- government, state budget or other practical decisions ical elites involved, as neither of the parties to the are raised in discussion, but also the very reason for conflict treat society as a partner. Society is apa- the state’s existence.It is difficult to conduct such a dis- thetic and ambivalent toward the abstract issues cussion based on rational and pragmatic arguments that occupy the intellectual, cultural and political inherent in political discussions as employed in the elites of the country.It no longer believes in a better West. The participants of this discussion seem to have world. Furthermore, it does not believe in its own forgotten what their ideological disputes have in com- power and the influence it can exert on the situation. mon with the everyday reality in which Belarusian soci- At present, Belarusian society only dreams of living ety exists. They seem to have forgotten in what way in peace and not dying of hunger. general values and principles translate into practical Neither of the parties to the ideological dispute methods of solving the social and economic problems istrusted by society.The party that winsthisdispute of the country. They do not treat society subjectively. will be the one that first understands that apart from Political elections in the country are taking on this dispute is a society simply waiting for leaders dramatic overtones. Their significance does not in- who will not ignore it. This is the most difficult