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“CIVIL SOCIETY “ IN TURBULENT TIMES: RUSSIAN CASE

“CIVIL SOCIETY “ IN TURBULENT TIMES: RUSSIAN CASE. Svetlana Kirdina Institute of Economics , Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. Outline. “Civil society” = an Ideologem? “Civil society” and a state: opponents or partners? “Civil society” in Russia: theory and empirical data.

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“CIVIL SOCIETY “ IN TURBULENT TIMES: RUSSIAN CASE

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  1. “CIVIL SOCIETY “ IN TURBULENT TIMES: RUSSIAN CASE Svetlana Kirdina Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

  2. Outline • “Civil society” = anIdeologem? • “Civil society” and a state:opponents or partners? • “Civil society” in Russia: theory and empirical data

  3. The importance of terms’ meaning Once disciple of Confucius asked his Teacher (488 BC): “New governor is going to involve you in the state administration. Where do you start?”. Confucius replied: "First we need to refine the names that do not correspond to the essence ... If the words are unfavorable, the case will not be going well ... (Lun Yu, XIII, p. 8)

  4. “Civil society” in different ideological contexts (examples) The New Left: civil society has a key role in defending people against the capitalist state and the market and in asserting the collective will to influence the state; Neo-liberals: civil society needs the market and is created for the satisfaction of individual interests and private property in accordance with liberal values. .[

  5. “Civil society” as “liberal” Ideologem CSI (Civil Society Index): 2 of 4 parameters characterize the basic freedoms and values; CSSI (Civil Society Strength Index): 1 of 2 groups of parameters is named as Civil Society values factor; GCSI (Global Civil Society Index): 2 of 5 parameters reflect the distribution of tolerance values.

  6. Civil society and a state Civil society is the state (since Thomas Hobbes, John Locke) Civil society is an opponent of the state, or “political superstructure” (since the Great Scots David Hume, Adam Smith, Patrick Ferguson) Civil society is a complement rather than an alternative to the state , “the state is seen as a precondition of civil society” (Whaites, 1996; Zaleski, 2006)

  7. Civil society and a state (Russian version) • Civil society is a part of the state. Its main objective is to promote the social integration through: • Legitimization of state power; • Public control of state decisions; • Participation in the process of state decision making. (Russian school of constitutional economics, Russian civil and public law studies).

  8. Table 1. In your opinion, what could promote the welfare of Russia, %? (Levada-Center. Press release 21.01.2010. What is democracy and whether it is necessary in Russia?)

  9. Table 2. Do you think the majority of public movements and initiatives in modern Russia is emerging… Levada-Center. Press release 25.06.2010. Problems of social and political participation.

  10. Table 3. What type of state would you like to see to exist in Russia? Levada-Center. Press release 16.03.2010. State and society interrelations in Russian public opinion.

  11. Table 4. In your opinion, on which of the following principles a society, in which you want to live, should be based? Levada-Center. Press release14.01.2011. On state and society interrelations.

  12. Institutional matrices theory (X- and Y-theory) as one of theoretical explanations Kirdina S. G. Institutional Matrices and Development in Russia (2edition). Novosibirsk, 2001 (In Russian). Kirdina S. The Institutional Matrices Theory in the Context of Modern Sociology. /Visions and Divisions: the Russian Outlook The Russian Academy of Sciences - The Russian Society of Sociologists. - Moscow-Helsinki, 2001. Kirdina S. Fundamental Difference in the Transformation Process between Russia and East European Countries // Berliner Osteuropa Info, № 16/2001. Kirdina S. Institutional Matrices and Institutional Changes / Economic Transformation and Evolutionary Theory of J. Schumpeter. The 5th International Symposium on Evolutionary Economics, Pushchino, Moscow region, Russia, 2003. Institutional matrix in sociology / Sociological encyclopedia. Moscow, 2003 (in Russian), Institutional matrices theory/ Sociological dictionary. Moscow, 2010 (in Russian).

  13. X- and Y-matrices Redistributive economy X X Y Federative political order Ideology of subsidiarity Unitary-centralizedpolitical order Communitarianideology Market economy

  14. Combinations of X- and Y-matrices Y Y X X Russia, China, and North American most of Asian and countries and most of Latin American countries European countries

  15. X- and Y-institutions in politics and their functions

  16. Conclusion “Civil society” remains an ideologem rather than a rigorous scientific concept. A critical interpretation of civil society discourse needs placing it in the context of contingent policy regimes defined by institutional factors.  A version of civil society discourse contextualized in the Russian transitional society calls for interpreting it not as an opponent of the state but as a part of the state with main objective to promote the social integration.

  17. Thank you for your attention! Contacts: www.kirdina.ru kirdina@bk.ru

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