Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 19th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview PA Reform Author(s) Zaira Jagudina University of Skovde Skovde Sweden Title Restructuring the state - civil society interaction in Russia: The case study of the socially - oriented NGOs File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract This paper presents the results of a pilot study on the organisational identity and emotional regime produced and enacted in the nonprofit NGOs contracted as delivers of social service by local governments in European Russia. Since the late 1990s a set of reforms aimed at restructuring the interaction between local governments and civil society organisations has been carried out in Russia (Weigle, 2000; Yakimets, 2004). Among other reforms, NGOs providing charitable assistance were involved by local governments as contractors in the delivery of social services. During the transition new social services were introduced by local governments to address such problems as the care of disabled children, victims of domestic violence, and the drug business, and others. While NGOs pioneered many of these services, local governments often created agencies to expand the scale of delivery (Struyk, 2003). The government-civil society relations during the transition were characterised both by tension, conflicts and efforts to establish a dialogue and partnership (Jagudina, 2009). The historical background sheds light on the present institutional and social-emotional contexts in which the NGOs are involved for providing civil services. The practices of the nonprofits can be analysed as including at least three different kinds of social interactions: cooperating with local government, recruiting/giving service to clients, and maintaining ties with the other national/international NGOs. Organisational identity of the NGO members is produced and enacted through routine practices (interactional rituals) and emotional labour exerted during these interactions. This study is focused on the organisational identity of NGOs staff members. The questions investigated are: How do the nonprofits make sense of their interaction with local government? How do they view their position in the public sector in relation to the service-users? Are they positioned as professional civil servants or grassroots activists, or both? This pilot study is based on the empirical materials collected with help of document studies, semi-structural qualitative interviews with the NGOs’ directors and staff members, and participant observation of their work practices. The organisations in the study are located in Moscow and St Petersburg; they differ in size and provided social services.
