The Europeanization of Social Movements in the Czech Republic: The EU and Local Women’s Groups

The goal of this paper is to analyze the impact the EU has had on Czech women‟s groups since the 1990s. Drawing on both Europeanization and social movement theories, the first section defines the theoretical standpoint of the paper. The second section is focused on the impact of changes in the funding of women‟s groups which, since the end of the 1990s, have relied more than before on European sources of funding. The third section analyzes the shift in the political context and the domestic political opportunity structure in the Czech Republic that has occurred in connection with the accession process. The fourth section analyzes transnational cooperation, for which new opportunities have appeared with the EU‟s eastern expansion. The paper concludes by summarizing its main findings.