There were hot discussions in the parliament, the Supreme Soviet, in the 1991-1996 between the supporters of independence, a new national idea and reforms and those who maintained conservative views.

Activities of the Communist Party were temporarily prohibited after the coup in August 1991 (the prohibition was lifted, however, in 1993). Supporters of the Belarusian People’s Front (mass public association, then party, which was established in 1989) insisted on the need for changes.

In the mid-1990s we faced serious economic and social problems, frustration of a part of society due to disruption of the former way.

Populist politics flourished in that setting. Aleksandr Lukashenka was its embodiment at the 1994 election. His politics were based on the USSR nostalgia, protesting against the emerging social classes and denial of changes. Many of the former elites remained in power. Authoritarian regime was slowly established in Belarus and political opposition was forming. Several representatives of the latter had gone missing in the 1999-2001.

The 1990s–first decade of the 2000s protests transformed into a new protesting culture. Significant generational and social changes took place in the Belarusian society over the 30 years of independence.

By the end of 2021, there are over 900 political prisoners in Belarus.

Since the end of the 1980s, creation of the civil society structures was a grassroots process. Political regime in Belarus has tried to control the civil society since 1994: the authorities either terminated organisations or used the NGOs’ resources for their own benefit.

Thanks to the actions of the civil activists, grassroots initiatives of the civil society representatives in the past 30 years many problems and requests have been formulated: create opportunities for education of the adults including in prisons, create inclusive environment for the disabled, discuss equal rights of men and women, the issue of domestic violence, create opportunities for regional development.

Despite repressions and liquidation after the 2020 protests many NGOs continue their work and keep pushing the urgent social agenda.

In the 1990-s and especially the 2000s, Belarusians started to travel the world a lot, took part in international exchange projects, discovered new opportunities. But still, national borders and visa restrictions remained an obstacle for the country to be open. Moreover, in the aftermath of the 2020 protests, the authorities have significantly complicated the procedure of leaving the country for the majority of Belarusians.

At the same time, people with conservative views — those who are in power and form the state’s social policy — are oriented on the so-called ‘survival values’ and paternalism. The issue of human rights is one of the central in the society due to numerous violations of these rights by the political regime.

There is no agreement in the society on the issues of domestic violence, rights and opportunities for the disabled, members of the LGBTQ community and other vulnerable groups. In the meantime, the state propaganda keeps manipulating ‘traditional values’ and ‘spirituality’.

In the 2010s, the state cancelled s number of social programmes, even the ones they initiated themselves. For example, benefits were cancelled for those who liquidated the Chernobyl disaster consequences in 1986, lived in contaminated areas or were forced to relocate.

In 1988 Zianon Pazniak and Eugene Shmygaliov published an article ‘Road to Kurapaty’. The topic of Stalin’s repressions became one of the central topics and Kurapaty stow near Minsk, mass burial of the victims of terror, became the most known place of commemoration.

Officials tried to end debate on state violence during the Stalinist period saying ‘stop politicising the history of Kurapaty’. It was only in 2018 that the authorities agreed to hold a contest and install a memorial in Kurapaty. In spring 2019 several dozens of crosses installed by the activists were demolished.

Topics most discussed today are the national movement of the early 20th century and its symbols, the history of the Great Patriotic War and collaboration. The state propaganda manipulates the memory of World War II.

At the same time, discussion about the ‘European’ or ‘Russian’ component in the Belarusians’ self-identification has continued since the 1990s. The idea of neutrality appeared in the Constitution in the 1990s. Since the 2000s, governmental policy has employed the idea of its multi-vector nature which, in fact, prioritises relations with Russia.

Jewish communities try to preserve the memory about Holocaust in Belarus which resulted in the loss of a significant part of Belarusian culture and population. Recognition of the memory of Roma and their genocide during World War II has only recently become a subject of public discussions. The Polish community is also forming its memory narrative, same as other ethnic groups.

During the 2020 protests many representatives of the Catholic and Orthodox clergy protested openly against violence against the peaceful citizens. Position and status of religious organisations, however, are controlled by the state which does not allow critical statements against itself.

Strikes at industrial enterprises became a norm. Miners in Salihorsk (Belsruskali) and workers in other cities joined strikes periodically in 1989-1992.

It was allowed to exchange foreign currency freely. Belarusians were trying themselves as entrepreneurs, but at the same time faced social stratification and learned what criminal activity and racketeering were.

By the beginning of the 2000s, manual regulation of the economy had become a specific feature of economic policy in Belarus. The state created its own structures for business activities.

Government’s anti-market rhetoric and decisions caused periodic strikes of individual entrepreneurs across the country. In 1999, authorities introduced labour contracts limiting rights of the employed on the labour market. Independent trade unions were continuously persecuted.

The political regime propagated the idea of a Belarusian ‘welfare state’. It tried to distribute resources quite evenly (populist rhetoric of the 1990s was based on that) to expand support and increase loyalty of the population.

By 2020, the list of successful businesses in Belarus included the IT sector, fuel and energy sector, retail and construction. Some of these businesses were independent, some were directly connected with the governmental structures. Agricultural sector required huge investments, same as a number of ineffective state-owned enterprises in other spheres. Political instability of 2020-2021, governmental policy and sanctions resulted in the worsened economic ratings and forecasts for Belarus.

After the authoritarian regime was established in 1994, the authorities attempted to control the press and TV. Since the second half of the 1990s, non-governmental media have been under pressure constantly: newspapers were denied access to the state systems of distribution and subscription, journalists were persecuted, advertisers were prohibited from advertising. Once the independent media appeared on the Internet, the authorities also tried to shut down their websites during the election campaigns or political events. One of the trends in the last five years has been people’s decreasing trust in the state-owned media.

In the 1990s, a new era of information technology started in Belarus due to the Internet development and expansion of access thereto. The state controlled private providers and hosting companies and has still maintained monopoly in telecommunications. Mobile communication companies, which became broadly available for the public in the early 2000s, are also state-controlled.

For the last 10 years, the authorities used this image of an IT country inside and outside Belarus to try and make the authoritarian regime seem capable of changing. However, during the 2020 protests, this desired image, as well as that of the IT country, were questioned due to periodic Internet shutdowns and arrests of the IT people.