The Power of the Powerless

The Power of the Powerless (Czech: Moc bezmocných) is an expansive political essay written in October 1978 by the Czech dramatist, political dissident, and later statesman, Václav Havel. The essay dissects the nature of communist regimes of the time, life within such a regime, and how by their very nature, such regimes can create dissidents of ordinary citizens. The essay goes on to discuss ideas and possible actions by loose communities of individuals linked by a common cause, such as human-rights petition Charter 77. Officially suppressed, the essay was circulated in samizdat form and translated into multiple languages. It became a manifesto for dissidents in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and other communist states. The essay was first translated into English by Paul Wilson and published by Ladislav Matejka and Benjamin Stolz in the University of Michigan Department of Slavic Languages and Literature's 1983 edition of Cross Currents. The essay appeared alongside a monologue written by Arthur Miller titled "I Think About You A Great Deal" to be performed at the Festival d'Avignon as an expression of solidarity with Havel. In 1985 the essay was published as part of a volume of essays edited by John Keane, entitled The Power of the Powerless: Citizens Against the State in Central-Eastern Europe.