Civil Society And The Search For Justice In Russia

More than a decade has passed since path-breaking policies aimed at liberalizing post-Soviet society were first introduced in Russia. Today, these promises of freedom, equality, and justice remain largely unfulfilled and Russia's political system continues to exhibit signs of the deep-rooted problems that may well retard, if not completely derail, any possibility of future reform. Against this stark background, Civil Society and the Search for Justice in Russia explores the various dimensions of Russia's civil society: the meaning of, and search for, justice; the role of the Orthodox church as a principal unifier in civil society; the need for new freedoms for women and ethnic minorities; and the role of mass education and the free press in inculcating and articulating new civic values. Expertly blending the historical with the theoretical, the recent with the empirical this work offers new insight and analysis into the ability of a nascent Russian civil society to engage effectively with the twenty-first century Russian state to ensure social, religious, and political justice.

This book examines how civil society engages with transitional justice in Russia, demonstrating a broad range of roles civil society can undertake while operating in a restrictive political context. Based on sociolegal research, the study focuses on three types of civil society groups dealing with the legacies of the Soviet repression in Russia – a prominent organisation that works on recovering historical truth, the International Memorial; a parish of the Orthodox Church of Russia operating at a former mass execution and mass burial site, the Church at Butovo; and contentious groups that could hinder attempts at reckoning and promote state narratives built on the Stalinist and WWII victory myths. This book explores an often-overlooked case of Russia’s transitional justice ‘from below.’ It provides insights into how even in authoritarian contexts, civil society can adopt imaginative, piecemeal, and at times unconventional ways of seeking justice outside and in the absence of official and institutionalised transitional justice measures. This book will appeal to scholars of transitional justice, memory studies, human rights, and democratic and civil society theory, as well as policymakers and practitioners in these fields, and others with interests in Russian and post-Soviet studies.

"In his first year in office, President Dmitry Medvedev has done little to reverse the Russian government's deliberate weakening of key institutions of a pluralistic democratic society, which marked the presidency of Vladimir Putin. One key aspect of this growing authoritarianism has been increasing, excessive government scrutiny and control of nongovernmental organizations, mainly through the 2006 law regulating NGOs. This report describes how the law and current rules allow the state to interfere arbitrarily in NGOs, by conducting intrusive audits, imposing onerous reporting requirements, and impeding NGO registration on non-substantive, insignificant grounds. It documents how the law allows the Ministry of Justice to take disproportionate, punitive measures in response to minor administrative violations by NGOs. The report also describes how the deeply negative operating climate for NGOs is exacerbated by new restrictions on grants and subsidized office space, and a growing number of physical attacks and hostile statements directed at NGOs and activists. President Medvedev in April 2009 acknowledged the difficulties faced by NGOs, including restrictions 'without sufficient justification,' occasioning some optimism that Medvedev will break with restrictive policies instituted under Putin. Soon thereafter, Medvedev initiated a limited process for reforming the troublesome law; initial reforms will affect only a fraction of NGOs and are limited in scope. Human Rights Watch calls on the Russian government to expand the reform to all organizations, and end and desist from further arbitrary limitations on the work of independent civil society groups."--P. [4] of cover.

Undertakes an analysis of the development of civil society in post-Soviet Russia. This book analyzes the Russian context and considers the roles of the media, business, organized crime, the church, the village, and the Putin administration in shaping the terrain of public life.

Unlike other books on civil society in Russia which argue that Russia's civil society is relatively weak, and that democratisation in Russia went into reverse following Vladimir Putin's coming to power, this book contends that civil society in Russia is developing in a distinctive way. It shows that government and elite-led drives to encourage civil society have indeed been limited, and that the impact of external promotion of civil society has also not been very successful. It demonstrates, however, that independent domestic grassroots movements are beginning to flourish, despite difficulties and adverse circumstances, and that this development fits well into the changing nature of contemporary Russian society.

This book explores social change and changes to civil society in Russia, focusing especially on education.

The development of civil society has varied greatly across the former Soviet Union. The Baltic states have achieved a high level of integration with the West and European Union membership, while some regions in Russia lag far behind. Now for the first time there is a comparative study of civil society and democratization across post-Soviet national borders. Acknowledging the enormous variation throughout the region, the book offers unique data on developments in Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Applying an innovative analytical framework derived from theories of democratization, civil society, social movements and transnational relations, the researchers have formulated broader comparisons and generalisations without neglecting the specific post-Soviet context. The book provides a systematic comparison across sectors as well as nations, and includes chapters on NGOs, the state and conflict, and transnationalisation. Quantitative survey data is combined with qualitative interviews and case study research to both confirm previous findings about the weakness of post-communist civil society and to qualify previous research.