“Detente with a Human Face”
The CSCE, Human Rights, and Samizdat
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Under the Communist dictatorships of Eastern Europe, room for independent action developed through self-publishing, samizdat. With the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), human rights were enshrined in and legitimised by international law. The conflicts over the validity of human rights that arose the in Socialist countries and on the international stage constituted a new chapter in European politics. In retrospect, the human rights activists proved more foresighted and more realistic than the so-called realists. In this respect, the worlds of samizdat remain current.
(Osteuropa 11/2010, pp. 59–84)