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Street-level Practice of Russia's Social Policymaking in Saint Petersburg: Federalism, Informal Politics, and Domestic Violence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 November 2015

JANET ELISE JOHNSON ,
MERI KULMALA  and
MAIJA JÄPPINEN
JANET ELISE JOHNSON
Affiliation:
2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn College, City University of New York Brooklyn, NY 11210USA1 email: Johnson@brooklyn.cuny.edu
MERI KULMALA
Affiliation:
Finnish Center of Excellence in Russian Studies – Choices of Russian Modernisation Aleksanteri Institute, BOX 42, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland email: meri.kulmala@helsinki.fi
MAIJA JÄPPINEN
Affiliation:
Finnish Center of Excellence in Russian Studies – Choices of Russian Modernisation Aleksanteri Institute, BOX 42, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland email: maija.jappinen@helsinki.fi
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Abstract

Despite the growth in studies of Russian social policy, the reality of the social policy process – most of which is regionally based – remains a puzzle. In this article, we stake a claim for the importance of studying street-level social service provision in Russia's regions to advance the understanding of social policymaking in authoritarian-leaning regimes. We show that – albeit in small ways in only some places – Russia has expanded its welfare state, taking on an issue neglected by the Soviet regime in response to activism. Using the lens of work against domestic violence, we conduct a case study of women's crisis centres in Saint Petersburg. We show the limitations of the two usual state-society frameworks – those looking at civil society and at the welfare state. Building on their strengths, we construct a de facto feminist framework that focuses on how much and what kind of help citizens receive from both state and societal actors. In Russia's social policymaking, shaped by federalism, we find mixed success –civic organizations have weakened, but the state has taken on civic initiatives at local levels – and point to the importance of the informal politics of speaking in code and navigating elite networks.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 45 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 287 - 304
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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