State-sponsored civic associations in Russia: systemic integration or the ‘war of position’?

Abstract

The paper examines two main paradigms deployed for the study of civil society in the Eastern and Western contexts

Governance networks and vertical power in Russia – Environmental impact assessments and collaboration between state and non-state actors

“…5 Russian NGOs have finally become part of a sphere which cannot be fully attributed either to independently organised collectives or to the controlling state (Ljubownikow, Crotty, and Rodgers 2013;Mikirova, Mueller, and Schuhmann 2013). The collaborative approach, however, does not imply that "cooperative" NGOs are always predictable or completely obedient to the authorities (Chebankova 2012); many defend the interests of their members by putting pressure on officials (Evans 2012). But the collaborative approach lets the regime transform political contention into "consentful contention" which is less threatening to the regime (Cheskin and March 2015, 262).…”

“…Despite heightened state control of civil society, culminating in a law in July 2012 stipulating that private organisations receiving funding from abroad are to be treated as "foreign agents" (Crotty, Hall, and Ljubonwnikow 2014), 4 activism has increased significantly over the past few years (Fröhlich 2012). The Russian government has enforced the formation of "constructive cooperation" between loyal civil society organisations and the state (Ljubownikow, Crotty, and Rodgers 2013), created new arenas for cooperation (Petrone 2011;Tarasenko 2010), and encouraged bottomup initiatives, while acting at the same time as a regulating force (Chebankova 2012). Authorities want NGOs to play a role in the supplying of essential services, the offering of charity work and the alleviating of problems associated with housing and the natural environment.…”

“…In order to feign public participation and to attract international donors, both companies and state authorities also create "puppet" government organised nongovernmental organisations (GONGOs) (Mamonova and Visser 2014;Mikirova, Mueller, and Schuhmann 2013). Overall, there is a widespread consensus that most NGOs have moved closer to the state in order to pursue their policies during the last decade, thus forming and maintaining resource-dependent relations (Cook and Vinogradova 2006;Chebankova 2012Chebankova , 2013Fröhlich 2012), which basically promote the emergence of statedominated governance networks.…”

Policy Implementation and Initiatives in Russia: A Local Perspective

“…Although civil society was indeed growing in the 1990s, many commentators have noted that the doors have been closing again since Vladimir Putin's rise to power. A transformation in the understanding of civil society in Russia has been noted since the 1990s: from viewing civil society as a counterforce to the state to viewing it as a collaborator with the state (Chebankova 2012). In analyzing statesociety interactions in rural areas in Russia, Natalia Mamonova and Oane Visser (2014) show that many rural movements support the status quo.…”

Contemporary Russian liberalism

“…If we, however, accept civil society as an entity partly coterminous with the state, in either the Hegelian, Lockean, or even Hobbesian trend, then this claim could come across as somewhat more dubious. For parts of civil society in this trend are actively co-operating with the state in various aspects of social life (Keane 1988;Lewis 1992;Inoguchi 2002;Chebankova 2012bChebankova , 2013a and have the dual goal of curbing the state's influence and assisting it in the prevention of social chaos.…”