The Voluntary Movement in Modern Russia: Civic Activism vs. State-Enforced Indoctrination

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-496
Author(s):  
Mikhail Yu Martynov ◽  
Liubov A. Fadeeva

Abstract This article addresses the political effects which the multidirectional activity of both the state and civil society institutions have on the voluntary movement. The state seeks to provide support with the purpose of indoctrination, whereas the aim of public organizations is civic activism. The authors of this paper confirm the hypothesis about the direct political impact of these efforts using the evidence of an empirical study of voluntary movements that was conducted in 2019 in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug—Yugra. The authors conclude that just as state support provided to voluntary organizations does not incite the ‘pro-government’ discourse of their actions, so their ‘civil’ origin does not stir up oppositionist attitudes. Moreover, the state’s efforts to indoctrinate or block political socialization can trigger the opposite response, where volunteers start to act opportunistically and non-profit public organizations, designed to be the mainstay of civil society, can easily be transformed into agents of state policy.

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 81-88
Author(s):  
A. K. Klyachin, Tit O.G.

The General characteristics of the concept of civil society, outlined its functions, the main features, institutions and forms of interaction with public authorities. The category «activism» is considered as a means of civil society to effectively implement and protect the interests of society. On the basis of the analysis of activity of public organizations the attempt of conditional allocation of varieties of «activism»is carried out. It is determined which form of «activism» has the most real ability to influence public authorities.


2020 ◽  
pp. 22-28
Author(s):  
Svitlana Boiko

The article is devoted to the outline and research of several topical critical questions related to the study of the role of the Ukrainian youth in the development of civil society in terms of the undeclared Russian-Ukrainian war and global crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the influence of the civilization borderland factor on the mentality and behavior of borderland residents. The article focuses on the fact that the concurrently multidirectional influences, such as geopolitical, cultural, religious and others, make the borderland a zone of attraction and rejection, as well as the space for large-scale manipulations. The formation of civil society in the borderland area has its own specifics, yet scantily explored in the academic research. Special attention is paid to the increase of the civil society’s significance in various spheres from the promotion of reforms at the state level to the voluntary assistance provided to the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the “Joint Forces Operation”, internally displaced persons, and other segments of the population. To successfully solve the problem of building the Ukrainian civil society, it is necessary to fundamentally comprehend the youth’s participation in the solution of various problems of modern Ukraine. Thus, it is important that young citizens be ready for active cooperation with the state and public organizations. The research emphasizes one of the popular ways to transform young people into active citizens of Ukraine, which consists in their encouragement to participate in the process of building civil society at all levels of the educational process in the educational establishments of our state, Ukrainian weekend schools abroad; involvement in the work of the Young Scholars’ Council and various public organizations. This all caused the need to search for fundamentally new approaches to preparing youth for an active life in the Ukrainian society. The author of the article has elucidated the work experience of the scholars of the Research Institute of Ukrainian Studies regarding the effective forms and methods of increasing young people’s activity through the prism of academic, cultural, and educational work.


Author(s):  
H. Dzyana ◽  
R. Dzyanyy

Problem setting. The rapid development of modern society requires the creation of new forms of cooperation and mutual understanding and requires new forms of communication, which will be characterized by even greater efficiency, openness, transparency, efficiency and quality. The total penetration of communication into all spheres of public life actualizes its significance and functional role. Modern transformational processes taking place in society necessitate the creation of responsible institutions of civil society, which include public organizations that act as a mediator between the community and the state. The level of public trust in them depends on the effectiveness of communicative activities of NGOs because successful communication is the basis of constructive dialogue between public organizations and society. Recent research and publications analysis. Ukrainian scientists study various aspects of the activity of NGOs, in particular, the development of mass and civil communication, public relations are studied in their works of such domestic scientists as: E. Afonin, V. Bebyk, M. Bilynska, O. Valevskyi, T. Vasilevskaya, N. Hrytsyak, N. Hudyma, V. Hurkovskyi, O. Dmytrenko, L. Klymanska, M. Lohunova, D. Nelipa, I. Panteleichuk, O. Petroye, G. Pocheptsov, O. Pukhkal, V. Rebkalo , V. Rizun, E. Romanenko, A. Savkov, S. Seryogin, G. Sytnyk, S. Teleshun, I. Chaplai and others. Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. Understanding the general features and trends of the development of public organizations, as well as the establishment of their effective internal and external communicative activity, require more detailed consideration and detailed study. The paper aims at theoretically substantiating the tools for ensuring the effectiveness of communicative activities of NGOs as a basis for open and rational dialogue in a consolidated society. Paper main body. The issue of improving the communicative interaction of public organizations with government bodies and the media does not disappear from the agenda of either government agencies or public associations. The effectiveness of communication of public organizations in Ukraine depends primarily on the literacy of their communication campaigns, which implies the presence in NGOs of communication strategies, which involve high-level professionals with many years of practical experience. Today, the participation of Ukrainians in the social movement and the trust in the institutions of the third sector and their influence on the development of society and community are growing. The results of the study showed that the efficiency of communicative activities of NGOs directly depends on public confidence in them. Social networks are a unique platform for consolidating different groups of actors based on the commonality of their interests, and as a result of communicative interaction, there is a large-scale synergetic effect. This way of showing civic activity can be considered the most efficient and widespread. The article considers the advantages and risks of the use of social networks by public organizations in the communicative activity of the public sector, outlines several rules of communication in social networks for public organizations. The article states that the effectiveness of communication of NGOs also depends on cooperation with journalists and the choice of audience. The quality of feedback and the level of public trust in NGOs depend on the ability to convey relevant information to the audience in a timely and high-quality manner. We should not underestimate the growing role of public organizations in the consolidation of society, a necessary condition for which is the creation of a single information space. National consolidation will be successful when the state policy in this area is complemented by the activities of civil society institutions, their effective internal and external communication activities. In our opinion, there is a necessity to establish consolidated communication as a process of multifaceted communication within society through various communication channels and tools to strengthen, unite, integrate and pull together society to form a common coherent approach to solving societal problems. Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. Effective NGOs, as an element of civil society, are the catalyst for its development. Every NGO, since its inception, seeks to plan its activities in such a way as to achieve its goals in the shortest possible time, to become known, to influence public opinion. This area is an important factor that affects the necessity for communicative interaction between the state and civil society. Among the tools for ensuring the efficiency of communicative activity of NGOs, we consider it appropriate to name: the presence of feedback and the level of public confidence in them; literacy of public communication campaigns; correct use of social networks in the communicative activity of the public sector; establishing active cooperation with journalists; definition of the target audience; use of modern communication formats; selection of communication channels that correspond to the target audience; establishing consolidated communication. Further research in this direction should be aimed, in particular, at an in-depth studying of consolidated communication as a major factor in the consolidation of Ukrainian society.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 38-52
Author(s):  
Yelena Sevostyanova

The article examines the main activity directions of non-governmental organizations in China in terms of the retrospective, general trends in the present-day period and specificity of this activity in PRC and the trans-border territories of the Russian Federation. Each of the three periods of existence of the public organizations of compatriots – pre-revolutionary, Soviet and post-Soviet — has both common traits and their specificity. The first voluntary organizations for support of Russian compatriots in China appeared in terms of public initiative in early XX century. As long as a system of state support of those migrated was absent in China, the emigrants created public organizations that assisted the compatriots materially and spiritually. Compatriots’ organizations arranged «Days of Russian Culture», supported opening and existence of schools and libraries, created a Russian-speaking media space. The break-up of the USSR stimulated not only the migration processes but also consolidation of the Russian diaspores around the world, appearance of new forms of organizing the compatriots living in various countries. In the modern period the state participates actively in integrating activities of public compatriots’ organizations in the far abroad because it comprehends that these organizations scattered around the whole world are unable to fully perform defense of the compatriots’ interests, to support the Russian-speaking mass media, to preserve affiliation with the Russian culture, traditions and the language. Beginning from early 2000, the Russian federation and the People’s Republic of China have been developing inter-governmental cooperation in the + sphere of assistance to compatriots, counteraction to illegal migrations. Intensification of regional cooperations has become a new direction. In Zabaikalye Territory, the cooperation with public organizations of Russian compatriots in China is carried out by the territorial Ministry of International Cooperation and Foreign Connections. The article states major directions and forms of work with Russian compatriots in China at the regional level. It makes a conclusion that the Russian Federation places great emphasis to strengthening of partner cooperation of compatriots with Russia, the government tries along with the public to determine new and most prospective direction of activities. In China, the integration of business community, integration of youth organizations can be referred to such directions.


Author(s):  
Jo Crotty ◽  
Sergej Ljubownikow

AbstractThe work of non-profit organisations (NPOs) in non-democratic country contexts tends to be judged on their contribution to the democratisation process rather than the activities they undertake. This neglects the potential impact NPOs have on societies within such contexts. In this study, we highlight that NPOs can influence public policy deployment in the Russian Federation even if they cannot affect public policy itself. By operationalising the very restrictions placed upon them, NPOs use their relationships with the state to effect change within their immediate environment and scope of their operational remit, even if they cannot hold authorities to account or influence policy development. The key to this is strong organising capabilities and engagement with the Russian public. We reflect on the implications of our findings to the understanding of civil society development and NPOs in Russia and in other similar non-democratic contexts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 89 ◽  
pp. 07005
Author(s):  
Alla Aleksandrovna Bylinskaya ◽  
Sergey Aleksandrovich Sudin

The relevance of the research topic is due to the denationalization of the social services market and, as a result, the growing importance of the third sector in their provision; the development of civil society, the construction of social problems, in the solution of which non- profit organizations play an important role. A comparative analysis of assessments of the emerging model of interaction between civil society and the state will allow us to determine its current state, show strengths and weaknesses, the most pressing problems and development trends. A large role in the study of the issues raised belongs to the study and critical understanding of the leading practices of building interaction between the state and civil society, which will not only adapt the most appropriate practices, but also avoid possible problems. The proposed research will help to establish feedback between the state, business and supported NPOs and develop recommendations for optimizing this interaction. The aim of the study is to comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness of the emerging model of interaction between the state and NPOs as new actors in the country’s economic and socio-cultural policy and forecast the prospects for its development. The study is based on the study of the perceptions of leaders and key actors of NPOs about the prospects for the development of their organizations in the context of the emerging model of interaction with business and the state. The authors put forward a hypothesis about the need to study the assessments of the existing model of interaction between the state and NPOs by representatives of executive authorities responsible for the implementation of relevant programs, direct managers and key actors of NPOs, as well as representatives of target groups of their activities in the regions to determine the problems and prospects of interaction between the state, business and NPOs.


2020 ◽  
pp. 163-168
Author(s):  
Iryna Tkachuk

Purpose. The aim of the article is to reveal the meaning of the concept of "finances of the civil society" and to outline its place in the financial system of the state. Methodology of research. A set of general and special research methods is used to achieve this goal: abstract and logical method, including methods of analogy and comparison, induction and deduction, scientific abstraction (to clarify the conceptual apparatus of the problem under study); graphical and systematic methods, logical generalization and systematization (to determine the place of finances of the civil society in the financial system of the state, as well as to visualize the movement of cash and non-monetary benefits in the civil society finance system). Findings. It is determined that the study of civil society finances should take into account such two main aspects as the financial resources of the CS and the management component. It is proposed that the term "financial resources of civil society institutions" should be understood as monetary funds available to CSOs that have a legitimate source of origin and are aimed at achieving the statutory goals of these institutions. The lack of a unified approach of the legislator to understanding the role of the management component for the finances of the CS is revealed. The interpretation of the category "finances of the civil society" as economic relations is aimed at optimizing the processes of formation, distribution and use of financial resources available to CSOs in order to ensure their statutory goals and improve the quality of the social environment. The necessity of classifying the finances of civil society to the finances of non-profit institutions and organizations, which respectively belong to the finances of economic entities, is substantiated. It is determined that CSOs interact with such economic entities as the state, households and enterprises in order to achieve certain goals and attract resources for activities. It is established that as a result of such interaction between them there are economic relations. In this case, all subjects of economic relations from such interaction receive benefits of both monetary and non-monetary nature. Originality. The concept of "finances of the civil society", which we understand as economic relations aimed at optimizing the formation, distribution and use of financial resources available to CSOs in order to ensure their achievement of statutory goals and improve the quality of the social environment, is substantiated and introduced into scientific circulation. Practical value. The obtained research results can be used for further research on the organization and functioning of civil society finances, as well as in the practice of non-governmental organizations of various kinds. Key words: civil society, civil society institutions, civil society finances, financial resources.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-13
Author(s):  
S.R. Bekishieva ◽  
◽  
R.M. Karibov ◽  

The article is devoted to the problems of interaction between state authorities and civil society institutions of modern Russia in the field of ensuring the environmental rights of citizens. At present, the study of environmental human rights is of particular relevance in connection with the need for modern states to provide scientifically sound correlation of environmental and economic interests of society and the need to create legal guarantees to protect human rights to a favorable natural environment for its life. In the course of the study, the authors come to the conclusion that the level of interaction between society and the state in ensuring the environmental rights of citizens in modern Russia, the continuous increase in the participation of Russian citizens and their associations in the struggle for their environmental rights, the need for full assistance of public authorities to public organizations in their activities, taking into account the opinions and suggestions from non-profit organizations on specific issues in the field of ensuring a favorable environment, creating conditions and creating a mechanism to increase the effectiveness of the implementation of such functions of civil society as the socializing, mobilization, control and protection functions in the studied area.


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