Abstract
This chapter focuses on the development of environmental activism and protest in East Central Europe after 1989. The chapter mostly surveys the situation and existing research on the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland and, when relevant, refers also to the wider group of East European countries.
Many aspects and instances of environmental movement mobilization that have been observed in East Central Europe since 1989 have been addressed in systematic analyses of movements and environmental movement organizations (EMOs). The years of post-communist development are divided into several time periods derived from the extant literature.
Environmental movements evolved considerably in these different periods and responded to the opportunities and threats specific to each one. When applicable, the discussion is organized around the most important scholarly debate or controversy in the given period, reflecting the problems of importance at that time.
The chapter thus deals with the most important debates in the research on environmental movements in several time periods.