scholarly journals EU dialogue with Russian society: A reality check

European View ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 178168582110501
Author(s):  
Robert Pszczel
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Broad Agreement ◽  
European Project ◽  
Reality Check ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
General Goal ◽  
Basic Features ◽  
Effective Design

Engagement with Russian civil society is the least contested part of the EU’s current and expected future approach to Russia. There is broad agreement on the need to conduct a dialogue with Russian citizens and to facilitate people-to-people contacts, as well as to support civil society as such. However, this general goal is not fully matched by a clear understanding of what the basic features and sentiments of Russian society are today. This article seeks to sketch an unvarnished picture of Russian society, knowledge of which is essential for the effective design and successful conduct of any engagement activities (their formats, channels of communication and content). The key problems include the lack of enthusiasm among ordinary Russians for the European project, and their growing confusion—fuelled by authoritarian control and disinformation—about European institutions and norms.

MAIN APPROACHES TO INTERACTION BETWEEN THE STATE AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 133-139
Author(s):  
E. A. GRIBENNIKOVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
The State ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Advisory Councils ◽  
Public Advisory ◽  
The Russian Federation

The article considers the issue of interaction between the state and civil society, analyzes the main approaches and models of such interaction. The author notes the important consolidating role played by public and public Advisory Councils under state authorities in Russian society.

A Republic of distrust, fear and division. Rethinking contemporary Polish Experience

2021 ◽  
pp. 312-324
Author(s):  
Ryszard Piotrowski
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
European Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
Polish Experience ◽  
Constitutional Identity ◽  
Ways Of Life

The system of governance in contemporary Poland is founded mainly on a negative narrative of distrust. That narrative brought to power the country’s present scaremongering rulers. They continue feeding the public with frightening stories of an influx of refugees, threats of war and terrorist attacks, evils of globalisation and a loss of cultural identity to foreign ways of life. A balance between distrust of rulers and trust in them is part of democracy’s constitutional identity. Those currently in power sow distrust in liberal democracy and its values – they violate the constitution, stir up distrust of elites, and make attempts at bringing the judiciary to heelwhile staging judges bashing propaganda campaigns. Distrust of European law and European institutions is part and parcel of this process. The negative narrative weakens and threatens to disenfranchise civil society, blurring the line between law and lawlessness. It also weakens those in power.

scholarly journals Women’s organizations as a segment of civil society of modern Russia

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-142
Author(s):  
Tatyana E. Lomova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Women's Movement ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Women's Organizations ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Foreign Agent ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Charity Work ◽  
Women’S Organizations

The article analyses women’s organizations of modern Russia as a component of civil society. The study is based on the gender approach and materials analyzed include statistical data, results of opinion polls, websites of women’s organizations, interviews and other documents. The women’s movement is considered as one of the social practices in the context of the theory of practices proposed by Pierre Bourdie, Robert Connell and others. The author notes that the peak of women’s activity in Russia was in the 1990s, when women were uniting to solve social problems, such as women’s unemployment, human trafficking, etc. During that time, the women’s movement in Russia was developing with the support of international women’s organizations and foreign charity funds, but after the adoption of the so-called law on “foreign agents” many funds suspended or limited their activities in Russia. As a result, nowadays, many Russian NGOs including women’s organizations are facing financial problems. NGOs recognized as a “foreign agent” experience the most difficulties while organizations with the status of socially oriented NGOs can receive government’s support and funding. Using the method of content analysis, the author revealed that names of Russian women’s organizations often include such words as “family”, “childhood”, and “motherhood”, whereas the words “woman”/“women” and ‘women’s’ are rarely used. This is due to the fact that in Russian society there are still widespread views that the range of women’s interests should be limited to the private sphere. At the same time, the gender theory and feminism are often presented as attempts to undermine national traditions. As a result, a woman is considered as an object of social policy rather than a subject of social processes. The majority of Russian women’s organizations focus on charity work, but specific women’s interests and problems are often ignored or undervalued. However, domestic violence, labour market discrimination, and other gender problems can be solved only through the close interaction of the “third sector”, business, and government.

scholarly journals Franchise in the eyes of the Russians during the discussions on the draft of the first Russian parliament

2020 ◽  
pp. 70-75
Author(s):  
Anna Popova
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Russian Revolution ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Universal Suffrage ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
Rfbr Grant ◽  
Electoral Law

The article analyzes the attitude of the Russian society to the electoral law in the period of the First Russian revolution. The author used letters in which Russians expressed their ideas about active and passive law. The author made a conclusion about the mosaic attitude of people to universal suffrage. He presented this as a reflection of the peculiarities of the process of formation of a civil society in our country. The article was written with the support of the RFBR grant “The Evolution of Values and Ideas of Civil Society in the Mental Attitudes of the Russian Public Consciousness”.

scholarly journals The Main Problems and Directions of Achieving the Consolidation of Russian Society

2020 ◽  
pp. 24-31
Author(s):  
Tatiana Nikolayevna Samsonova ◽  
Diana Nikolayevna Tsygankova
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Imple Mentation ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Sociological Studies ◽  
Post Soviet Space ◽  
Modern Russian

The authors of the paper analyze the main directions of the consolidation of modern Russian society, as well as the problems that hinder the implementation of this process. The main factors explaining the fea-tures of the processes of consolidation of Russian society in the XXI century are considered. The col-lapse of the USSR, the resulting crises, the specifics of socio-political processes in the post-Soviet space, the formation of a national idea to a large extent affect the level of cohesion of the country's citizens. It is concluded that for the effective imple-mentation of the process of consolidation of society in modern Russia, it is necessary to overcome a number of problems. In this regard, it is of supreme importance to eliminate socio-economic inequality, corruption in all spheres of life, and optimize the activities of government bodies. The authors em-phasize that the consolidation of modern Russian society is the most important task of the ongoing national policy and requires targeted efforts on the part of both the state and civil society. The im-portance of further sociological studies of the con-solidation processes of Russian society is noted.

The evolution of policing in post-soviet Russia: Paternalism versus service in police. Officers’ understanding of their role

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Semukhina
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Early Period ◽  
The State ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Institutional Identity ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
Second Period

This paper examines two interrelated issues: the role of police as an institution of Russian society and their role during the past 25 years. This research is based on a series of indepth interviews conducted by the author in 2014–2016 with former and current police officers in three Russian cities. The paper traces changes in the perceived institutional roles of the Russian police by comparing police officers’ views during three periods: early through mid-1990s, late-1990s through mid-2000s, and mid-2000s through 2010s. The study reports that, during the early period, Russian police were disfranchised from the state and this abandonment was a source of institutional identity crisis for law enforcement officers who remained on the job. This process was coupled with high levels of job dissatisfaction and the overall feeling of “abandonment” of police by the state.At the same time, it was during this post-Soviet period, when ideas of policing as a service to the society were introduced and sometimes entertained among the professional circles of police officers and other government officials. Furthermore, this period was marked by continuous, though often sporadic, institutional reforms and anti-corruption measures.In the second period, the Russian police were slowly engaging back into the state-building process, which caused increased job satisfaction and better retention rates. At the same time, the second period signified a decline of the “police as service” ideology and the comeback of paternalistic views on policing. During this time, the government’s efforts to reform police and anti-corruption measures became systemic and better organized. Also, in the second period, members of the civil society became more active in demanding public accountability and transparency from the Russian police.Finally, the modern period of police development presents a case in which the institutional identity of the Russian police has been clearly connected to the state’s capacity. This process is coupled with increased paternalistic views among police officers and a failure of “police as a service” doctrine. In such an environment, the efforts by a maturing civil society to demand public transparency and accountability of the police are often met with hostility and anger. The paper concludes that further development of the Russian police depends on the role that they will play within the modern Russian state.

CONDITIONS FOR ESTABLISHING A FULL-FLEDGEDCIVIL SOCIETY IN RUSSIA: AN ANALYSIS BASED ON THE BIOSOCIAL APPROACH

2020 ◽  
pp. 28-35
Author(s):  
R.G. Saifullin
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Energy Structure ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Biological Mechanisms ◽  
Social Perspective ◽  
Effective Functioning ◽  
The Social ◽  
Near Future

In the article are formulated the main features of civil society. Among them the most important is the social activity of the citizens. It is characterized as low in modern Russia, which indicates the undeveloped nature of civil society. The reasons for this are analysed from a bio-social perspective. It is shown that for the effective functioning and development of civil society, certain types of energy should prevail in its structure. The biological mechanisms of the appearance of these types in the inertial phase are analyzed. It is concluded that the full functioning of civil society in the modern West was facilitated by the presence of leading Western ethnic groups in this phase and that the energy structure of Russian society is currently radically different from the energy structure of Western societies during the inertial phase. Therefore, the functioning of a full-fledged civil society in Russia seems unlikely in the near future. The forecast is that the formation of a full-fledged civil society in Russia is possible in the second half of this century.

The European Private Company - Entering the Scene or Lost in Discussion?

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1321-1332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Kornack
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
The Other ◽  
Private Company ◽  
Short Overview ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
Draft Statute ◽  
Basic Features ◽  
Societas Privata Europaea ◽  
European Private Company

More than a year has passed since the European Commission introduced the European Private Company (Societas Privata Europaea, SPE) in June 2008. What has become of the draft statute? This paper is meant to give a short overview of its basic features, the other European institutions' discussions and statements, the problems that prevented the proposal from being adopted so far and possible solutions that were introduced.

The Phases of European Integration

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Stirn
Keyword(s):  
European Convention ◽  
Trade Association ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
Geographic Space ◽  
European Project ◽  
European Free Trade Association ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
Political Solidarity

The chapter shows how, from the early beginnings of the efforts of the European idea’s founding fathers up until the present day, the European project has developed along three axes. The first follows the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) to the European Union (EU); the second follows the development of the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR); the third follows the other European institutions, such as, for example, those concerned with military co-operation and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and the Schengen area. The chapter shows how within a geographic space that has been enlarged considerably, the countries of Europe have attained a level of economic and political solidarity that undoubtedly surpasses the hopes of the founding fathers of the European project.

Placing Faith in Development: How Moscow's Religious Communities Contribute to a More Civil Society

Slavic Review ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa L. Caldwell
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Vantage Point ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Religiously Affiliated ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Development Organizations ◽  
Alternative Vision

The development-oriented work of Moscow's religious communities is examined in this article, with a focus on how a core group of faith organizations present themselves as offering an alternative vision of intervention and improvement that seeks to protect Russian citizens from what proponents suggest are the shortcomings of previous democratizing and civil society ventures. Staff and supporters within Moscow's faith-based assistance sphere contend that religiously affiliated assistance organizations are successful, not only because they parallel secular development programs in promoting values and practices of capitalism, democracy, and global human rights, but more importantly because they also claim to move beyond these approaches to tend to the well-being and transformation of the entire human being. Consequentiy, proponents argue that faith-based organizations are more attuned to values of humane treatment and civility, thereby making them better positioned to build a new Russian society that brings citizens and the state together in productive and caring relationships. Ultimately, this attention to the perspectives and ideals of religiously oriented development organizations provides a different vantage point for reconsidering the promises and consequences of Russia's neoliberal and democratizing transformations.

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