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Title [sv]
Urbana sociala rörelser i den postsovjetiska kontexten: Möjlighetsstrukturer och lokal aktivism i Moskva och Vilnius
Title [en]
Urban Social Movements in the Post-Soviet Context: Opportunity Structures and Local Activism in Moscow and Vilnius
Abstract [en]
The project proposes to study local activist groups in Moscow and Vilnius, active in the field of housing and local environment, thus contributing to the sparse literature on local urban activism in the post-Soviet context. The aim is to explain why urban social movements embrace particular strategies in their quest to influence policy decisions and defend their interests. The theoretical and empirical contribution of the project is related to revising approaches to the political opportunity structure of local urban movements. This includes studying how different types of opportunities interact and how they impact on strategies of activists as well as on their outcomes. The key argument here is that a lack of political opportunity, such as for lobbying, may influence the adoption of litigation, while the choice of protest as a strategy may be influenced by poor political and legal opportunities. In cases where the state is weak and the population is politically passive, it can make sense for activists to concentrate on structures of ‘legal opportunity’ instead of ‘political opportunity’. Addressing the legal opportunity coupled with ‘discursive opportunity’ as something potentially able to replace the political opportunity in activists’ strategic choices, and focusing on less studied local urban movements in Moscow and Vilnius, this project thereby attempt at expanding the traditional research agenda and achieving new results. Moscow and Vilnius (that stood for a similar picture twenty years ago) currently represent different combinations of opportunity structures, which will enable us to make an interesting comparison of opportunities, strategies chosen as well as outcomes of collective action. We will study small Moscow-based activist groups that are part of a citywide social movement, addressing a variety of problems, from advocating housing rights and resisting new developments in the city centre to preventing illegal privatization and land use. The Vilnius-based project will focus on activists groups that address such problems as restitution of property, environmental issues and other urban sustainability issues (community associations, Green movement club’s activities in Vilnius and the Jewish community in Vilnius). In terms of data collection methods, we shall use semi-structured interviews with activists, their leaders and decision-makers. In addition we will also employ media analysis, participant observation and comparative analysis.
Publications (6 of 6) Show all publications
Jacobsson, K. & Korolczuk, E. (2020). Mobilizing Grassroots in the City: Lessons for Civil Society Research in Central and Eastern Europe. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 33(2), 125-142
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Mobilizing Grassroots in the City: Lessons for Civil Society Research in Central and Eastern Europe
2020 (English)In: International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, ISSN 0891-4486, E-ISSN 1573-3416, Vol. 33, no 2, p. 125-142Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

What can we learn about civil society in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Russia from studies on activism within the region’s urban spaces? In this article, we argue that studying urban activism in CEE offers useful insights for general theory building about the importance of uneventful protests, the formation of agency and the processes of becoming active in the public sphere (conceptualized here as “political becoming”), and the enabling role of informality in collective action in adverse contexts. By contributing to our understanding in this way, these insights help to advance relational and process-based conceptions of civil society.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer, 2020
Keywords
Central and Eastern Europe, Civic activism, Civil society, Post-socialism, Urban movements
National Category
Sociology
Research subject
Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-42570 (URN)10.1007/s10767-019-9320-7 (DOI)000536006500002 ()2-s2.0-85074397305 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas, 2016-00258_3Swedish Research Council, 421-2010-1706The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, A007-2012
Available from: 2020-12-08 Created: 2020-12-08 Last updated: 2022-09-30Bibliographically approved
Jacobsson, K. (2015). Conclusion: Towards a New research Agenda. In: Kerstin Jacobsson (Ed.), Urban Grassroots Movements in Central and Eastern Europe: (pp. 273-288). Farnham: Ashgate
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Conclusion: Towards a New research Agenda
2015 (English)In: Urban Grassroots Movements in Central and Eastern Europe / [ed] Kerstin Jacobsson, Farnham: Ashgate, 2015, p. 273-288Chapter in book (Refereed)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Farnham: Ashgate, 2015
Keywords
Urban movements, Civil society, Post-Communism
National Category
Social Sciences
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society; Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-28148 (URN)753/42/2012 (Local ID)978-1-4724-3446-3 (ISBN)753/42/2012 (Archive number)753/42/2012 (OAI)
Projects
Institutionella begränsningar och kreativa lösningar: Civilsamhället i Polen i jämförande perspektiv
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 421-2010-1706The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, A007-2012
Available from: 2015-08-31 Created: 2015-08-31 Last updated: 2021-02-19Bibliographically approved
Aidukaite, J. & Jacobsson, K. (2015). Europeanisation and Urban Movements: Political Opportunities of Community Organizations in Lithuania. In: Kerstin Jacobsson (Ed.), Urban Grassroots Movements in Central and Eastern Europe: (pp. 247-272). Farnham: Ashgate
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Europeanisation and Urban Movements: Political Opportunities of Community Organizations in Lithuania
2015 (English)In: Urban Grassroots Movements in Central and Eastern Europe / [ed] Kerstin Jacobsson, Farnham: Ashgate, 2015, p. 247-272Chapter in book (Refereed)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Farnham: Ashgate, 2015
National Category
Sociology
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society; Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-28145 (URN)753/42/2012 (Local ID)978-1-4724-3446-3 (ISBN)753/42/2012 (Archive number)753/42/2012 (OAI)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, A007-2012
Available from: 2015-08-31 Created: 2015-08-31 Last updated: 2021-02-19Bibliographically approved
Jacobsson, K. (2015). Introduction: The Development of Urban Movements in Central and Eastern Europe. In: Kerstin Jacobsson (Ed.), Urban Grassroots Movements in Central and Eastern Europe: (pp. 1-32). Farnham: Ashgate
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Introduction: The Development of Urban Movements in Central and Eastern Europe
2015 (English)In: Urban Grassroots Movements in Central and Eastern Europe / [ed] Kerstin Jacobsson, Farnham: Ashgate, 2015, p. 1-32Chapter in book (Refereed)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Farnham: Ashgate, 2015
Keywords
Urban movements, civil society, post-communism
National Category
Sociology
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society; Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-28147 (URN)753/42/2012 (Local ID)978-1-4724-3446-3 (ISBN)753/42/2012 (Archive number)753/42/2012 (OAI)
Projects
Institutionella begränsningar och kreativa lösningar: Civilsamhället i Polen i jämförande perspektiv
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, A007-2012Swedish Research Council, 421-2010-1706
Available from: 2015-08-31 Created: 2015-08-31 Last updated: 2021-02-19Bibliographically approved
Aidukaite, J. & Fröhlich, C. (2015). Struggle over public space: grassroots movements in Moscow and Vilnius. International journal of sociology and social policy, 35(7-8), 565-580
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Struggle over public space: grassroots movements in Moscow and Vilnius
2015 (English)In: International journal of sociology and social policy, ISSN 0144-333X, E-ISSN 1758-6720, Vol. 35, no 7-8, p. 565-580Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore urban mobilisation patterns in two post-Soviet cities: Vilnius and Moscow. Both cities were subject to similar housing and urban policy during Soviet times, and they have implemented urban development using neoliberal market principles, provoking grassroots opposition from citizens to privatisation and marketisation of their housing environment and local public space. However, the differing conditions of democratic Lithuanian and authoritarian Russian public governance offer different opportunities and set different constraints for neighbourhood mobilisation. The purpose is to contrast local community mobilisations under the two regimes and highlight the differences between and similarities in the activists' repertoires of actions in two distinct political and economic urban settings. Design/methodology/approach - The paper employs qualitative methodology using data from semi-structured interviews conducted with community activists and state officials, presented using a comparative case study design. Findings - Although, citizens' mobilisations in the two cities are reactions to the neoliberalisation of housing and local public space, they take different forms. In Vilnius they are institutionalised and receive formal support from national and local authorities. Moreover, support from the EU encourages organisational development and provides material and cognitive resources for grassroots urban mobilisations. In contrast, residents' mobilisations in Moscow are informal and face fierce opposition from local authorities. However, even in an authoritarian setting, grassroots mobilisations evolve using creative strategies to circumvent institutional constraints. Originality/value - Little attention has been paid to grassroots urban mobilisations in post-Soviet cities. There is also a lack of comparative attempts to show variation in post-Soviet urban activism related to housing and local public space.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2015
Keywords
Grassroots, Housing policy, Mobilizations, Moscow, Public space, Vilnius paper type research paper
National Category
Sociology
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society; Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-28185 (URN)10.1108/IJSSP-01-2015-0002 (DOI)000213464500008 ()2-s2.0-84937706243 (Scopus ID)753/42/2012 (Local ID)753/42/2012 (Archive number)753/42/2012 (OAI)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, A007-2012
Available from: 2015-09-03 Created: 2015-09-03 Last updated: 2021-02-19Bibliographically approved
Jacobsson, K. (Ed.). (2015). Urban Grassroots Movements in Central and Eastern Europe. Farnham: Ashgate
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Urban Grassroots Movements in Central and Eastern Europe
2015 (English)Collection (editor) (Other academic)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Farnham: Ashgate, 2015. p. 322
Series
Cities and society
National Category
Sociology
Research subject
Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-28144 (URN)753/42/2012 (Local ID)978-1-4724-3446-3 (ISBN)753/42/2012 (Archive number)753/42/2012 (OAI)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, A007-2012Swedish Research Council, 421-2010-1706
Available from: 2015-08-31 Created: 2015-08-31 Last updated: 2021-02-19Bibliographically approved
Principal InvestigatorJacobsson, Kerstin
Co-InvestigatorAidukaite, Jolanta
Coordinating organisation
Södertörn University
Funder
Period
2013-01-01 - 2015-12-31
Keywords [sv]
Östersjö- och Östeuropaforskning
Keywords [en]
Baltic and East European studies
National Category
Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology)
Identifiers
DiVA, id: project:1766Project, id: A007-2012_OSS