Normalization and the Limits of the Law: The Case of the Czech Jazz Section

The Jazz Section was one of the most remarkable cultural institutions in “normalized” Czechoslovakia. Established in 1971 as part of the official Musicians' Union, the Jazz Section used its legal status to arrange jazz and rock concerts and to publish a variety of books without the permission or consent of the Communist authorities. From the late 1970s, the regime strove hard to close the Section; however, it survived until 1984. Only in 1986 did the regime find a way to prosecute its leading activists. This article investigates why persecution proved so troublesome. It focuses on the impact of the Jazz Section's legalistic strategy, and on the role of legal concerns in regime behavior. It argues that references to “law and order” had a central legitimizing function in the social discourse of the Husák regime, and that the resulting need to translate policies of repression into legal measures inhibited the authorities in their assertion of power and created an ambiguous window of opportunity for independent social activism.