Paid and unpaid social work in Russia: Is women’s social work opening up opportunities for empowerment processes?

Abstract

The article analyses whether social work in Russia can have an empowering effect on the poor, given the survival of hierarchical structure of organizations and women's responsibility for social welfare. Although state policies promote charity rather than empowerment, this study also discusses to what extent women's paid and unpaid work could stimulate processes of empowerment through supportive measures that open up possibilities for the poor to engage in changing their own situation. The empirical data are based on interviews with social work specialists, NGO representatives and local politicians in two Russian regions.

The Politics of Poverty in Contemporary Russia

“…Local politicians are actively taking part in starting cultural organisations, trade unions, and women's clubs. They also promote the establish ment of social NGOs, which are used for applying for money from welfare funds at higher levels (Sätre 2014a).…”

“…As a summary, the development of NGOs was a way to fill an empty space in Russia in the 1990s following the breakdown of the Soviet welfare system. These theories could also shed some light on initiatives to set up NGOs by ordinary people a decade later (Sätre 2014a).…”

Social work in FSU countries: mapping the progress of ‘the professional project’

“…A shift in favour of giving greater responsibilities and opportunities to the instruments of civil society has been more in evidence in some places. For instance, in parts of Russia, in the face of very limited social service provision, non-governmental services have mobilized the resources of local communities to help vulnerable groups (Sätre, 2014). In addition, the role of religion in people's lives has taken on significant meaning in many FSU countries, and the Russian Orthodox and Catholic Churches and Islamic institutions have all contributed to a revival of charitable efforts in particular communities (Roga, 2004).…”

Policies Against Poverty in Russia – A Female Responsibility

“…Local politicians are actively taking part in starting cultural organisations, trade unions and women's clubs. They also promote the establishment of social NGOs, which are used for applying money from welfare funds at higher levels (Sätre 2014).…”