Awakening through Music
The Cultural Anti-Elite in Belarus
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
For the democratisation process in Belarus, there is a partner who has received too little notice so far. Since the middle of the 1990s, a cultural opposition made up of young people has taken shape. Their creativity and activities are an important force for democratic change. The protests after the presidential election in March 2006 showed this. The promotion of democracy from the West ought not only look at the opposition parties. It is necessary to consider this new informal opposition and to offer it a forum in Europe. It is here that a young anti-elite is taking shape which will form tomorrow’s Belarus.
(Osteuropa 1/2007, pp. 49–56)