An Older Woman in the Local Community in Russia: Neighbors, Nongovernmental Organizations, and the Housing and Communal System

Abstract

The article examines the development of the local self-organization of retired women who are actively involved in the resolution of housing issues at their place of residence in St. Petersburg. The socio-spatial approach to aging, which is also referred to as “aging in place/in a community,” serves as the theoretical framework. This type of aging requires an active approach to the customary environment of the elderly and their support. Groups of older women generate activists who have free time and the necessary competencies and who are ready to promote the interests of all of the residents of an apartment building, neighborhood, or a district. Therefore, the empirical basis of the article was mainly material from interviews with female activists. In the housing and communal system, which is full of intricate, semilegal schemes that are invisible and incomprehensible to the majority of ordinary citizens, activists are not always able to enter into an equitable dialogue with the controlling bodies and managers. In order to make insignificant changes, older activists are sometimes required to take tremendous efforts and develop new competencies that help to overcome barriers and defend the collective interests.