This volume provides a perceptive analysis of the emergence - or rather reemergence - of citizen organisations in Central and Eastern Europe following the break-up of the Soviet bloc in 1989, an event of profound importance in the history of civil society. Eva Kuti explores the rich historical roots of nonprofit activity in Hungary, particularly in the early Middle Ages and in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She shows how some forms of voluntary organisation persisted throughout the forty years of Communist dominance, thanks to the perseverance of the Hungarian people and the modus vivendi they reached with the local Communist regime. She argues that the burst of activity after 1989 drew on these strong traditions of voluntarism. By placing the current Hungarian nonprofit scene in the context of its origins and in relation to developments elsewhere, Eva Kuti makes a major contribution to our understanding of the role nonprofit organisations are playing in the post-Communist transition process now underway throughout Central and Eastern Europe. This book will be of interest to students of the nonprofit sector, as well as to all those interested in the post-Communist transition.