The Power of the Powerless

The Power of the Powerless 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 dissent in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and other communist regimes. The essay was translated into English by Paul Wilson and published in 1985 as part of a volume of essays edited by John Keane, called The Power of the Powerless: Citizens Against the State in Central-Eastern Europe.