Grassroots Initiatives Research Articles

Building social resilience through visual instruments in Polish public space in the era of Russia's aggression against Ukraine

ObjectivesThe purpose of the article was an attempt to answer the question of the impact of murals created in Polish public space on building social resilience in the era of war in Ukraine.MethodsThe methodology of the conducted research was based on non-reactive research.ResultsThe results of the research showed the very rapid reactions of mural artists to the war in Ukraine. Works created in public space included both grassroots initiatives and mural painting supported by public entities and NGOs. Of interest was the presence of murals in public spaces in cities of different sizes, and the fact that they were created by both anonymous artists and authors who specialized in street art and were well-known in the community. Content analysis showed that the murals stigmatized the aggressor (Russia) and upheld the victim of the attack (Ukraine). They showed the heroism and bravery of Ukrainians, but also the trauma that war brings to hundreds of thousands of civilians and a country fighting for freedom. The murals showed who represents "good" and who represents "evil" in the ongoing conflict.ConclusionsThe murals were one of the instruments for building the social resilience of Poles against Russia's propaganda. Russia was presented on them as an aggressor, Ukraine as an invaded country. The message of the murals resonated in public spaces, but also in media spaces (newspapers, TV) and the Internet. Hence, their significance was broader than merely being present in the public spaces of individual cities.

‘The generation that will inherit Syria’: education as citizen aid and political opportunity

Grassroots initiatives to provide education were an integral part of efforts to stem the humanitarian disaster unleashed by the armed conflict in Syria. This article studies activists who organised informal schooling for children amid the devastating war. Building on life story interviews, we highlight the versatility of initiatives in the field of education for citizens who simultaneously engage in humanitarian action and mobilise for political change. There is a natural concern to detach humanitarian work from politics in order to gain and maintain a space for action. This has distanced the study of humanitarian aid from social movements research, which focuses on long-term struggles over power and political structures. We maintain, however, that the social movement literature generally, and studies on structural and cognitive political opportunity specifically, can help refine our understanding of the illusive nature of citizen aid. Our findings indicate that Syrians involved in humanitarian educational activities constructed their own structure of opportunities by monitoring shifting political and humanitarian conditions. Opening schools was a technical and pragmatic solution to the educational disaster caused by war. At the same time, it was motivated by a long-lasting desire to free Syria from its political plight and to offer an alternative.

Protiv techeniya: neformalnye organizatsii shkolnikov 1930-kh — nachala 1940-kh gg.

The article is devoted to the schoolchildren associations of the 1930s and early 1940s, which were created as grassroot initiatives, bypas sing—and often standing in opposition to—the pioneers and the Komsomol. These forms of activity make it possible to see adolescents in an unusual light—as the subjects of history—and to imagine how the socio-political realities and ideology of this period were refracted in their minds. The above material shows that, as in other periods, children’s amateur activity in the 1930s and early 1940s grew out of needs that were not met within the state system of education and upbringing. The political repressions that swept the country in the second half of the 1930s did not become an obstacle for these movements. However, a strong “formatting” effect was exerted by the focal points of the policy aimed at children of that time. The tightening of school discipline and normative pressure on the recalcitrant, ideological pressure with emasculated revolutionary meanings provoked reactions like Merton’s retreats and rebellion. Their organizational projections were, respectively, interest clubs, sometimes with a delinquent bias, and protest groups of various kinds. The weakening of Soviet isolationism and the decrease in ideological pressure during the war years stimulated the emergence of gaming communities to model state activities through the perspective of the rapprochement of nations.

Воодушевление российского воинства на завершающем этапе Первой мировой войны 1914-1918 гг. на примере создания памятника «Героям II Отечественной войны» в г. Вязьме в 1916 г.

The article attemts to reconstruct history and considerations of construction of the only Russian monument to the soldiers of the First World War. By summer 1916, Russia had been fighting on the fronts of the First World War for nearly two years. After rebuilding national economy on a war footing, negative phenomena developed in the socio-political structure of the state, which eventually would result in a nationwide crisis. No less dangerous was the situation in the multi-million Russian army. Having abandoned significant territories, suffering severe military setbacks in 1914–15, the army was losing its morale. There was great war-weariness, prospects for early victory looked vague. N.N. Golovin accurately called it the “broken spirit of the country.” These phenomena in the army found expression in desertion, draft evasion, unwillingness to “fight heroically” and endure hardships. Thus, patriotic initiative of the inhabitants of Vyazma to build a Second Patriotic War monument seems quite remarkable. It is even more peculiar, as monuments were not built until the end of the direct hostilities. Moreover, the public offered to erect the monument at its expense. The construction itself was a grassroots initiative and could have been picked up by other Russian cities, contributing to a revival of public support for the army and raising the troops morale. The project took into account the communal psychology of the Russian peasant, dressed in overcoat and fighting at the front. Names of fellow countrymen recipients of the Order of St George were to be incribed on the monument, providing an incentive for heroism at the front. Also, the heroes’ names of were to be included in special lists in rural schools. Information on the opening of the monument and proposed forms of perpetuating countrymen was sent to the fronts. A three-minute film was made about the monument in Vyazma. However, despite its clearly patriotic orientation and prospects, the Vyazma initiative was not supported nationwide. The analysis of Russian press in summer 1916 has showed that most popular newspapers and magazines did not publish information on this event. The Second Patriotic War monument in Vyazma is the first and only monument dedicated to the First World War in Russia. The methods of perpetuating heroes were, most likely, never implemented, and the empire itself lasted less than a year. In 1918 the monument was destroyed.

Pentecostalism and Women Development in the Redeemed Christian Church of God: A Model for National Development.

This article investigates the impact of Pentecostalism on women’s advancement within the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and its implications for broader societal progress. In recent decades, women in the RCCG have taken on more active roles and leadership responsibilities. The study examines historical and theological factors empowering women in the church, fostering personal growth and participation in various spheres. Pentecostalism’s emphasis on spiritual gifts, and inclusion, enables women to challenge gender norms and pursue leadership within the church and society. Success stories of women excelling in academics, entrepreneurship, and community development emerge from RCCG’s policies, teachings, and grassroots initiatives, offering potential contributions to national development. Challenges faced by the RCCG’s approach to women’s development are acknowledged, including reconciling traditional cultural expectations with progressive values. The study used case studies, questionnaires, and interview to illuminate women’s experiences in the RCCG and document transforming journey in the personal, familiar, and societal spheres. The study sheds light on potential obstacles and strategies for inclusive and sustainable development. Through case studies, questionnaires, and interviews, the research illuminates women’s experiences and transformative journeys within the RCCG, concluding with lessons for policymakers to promote women’s participation in societal development. In summary, this study contributes valuable insights to achieving inclusive and sustainable national development by understanding Pentecostalism’s impact on women’s growth in the RCCG. It emphasizes the potential for positive social change through women’s empowerment.

From working group to standing committee: A history of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility work at the Society for Scholarly Publishing

Key points The Society for Scholarly Publishing's (SSP) Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Committee began as a grassroots initiative in 2016. Over a a period of 4 years, the committee evolved from a six‐member task force to a large standing team consisting of more than 25 individuals. The task force developed a strategic plan consisting of three major objectives that formed the basis of the group's strategic initiatives. The committee implemented several DEIA nitiatives that provided education and resources to SSP members about DEIA within their workplaces and promoted DEIA practices in the work that SSP committees were doing on behalf of the organization.

GRASSROOTS ЯК НЕПРЯМИЙ МЕТОД ЛОБІЮВАННЯ ПОЛІТИЧНИХ РІШЕНЬ

Interest groups use a sophisticated combination of various methods and technologies in their lobbying activity, their list expands and diversifies in a digital society and differs depending on the subject of lobbying and available resources for influence. To increase the effectiveness of lobby campaigns along with traditional methods of direct influence, interest groups seek to create a certain impression about a particular issue in the public. For these purposes indirect methods of lobbying are widely used, they do not have a specific target audience, they are applied outside the offices and corridors where government officials make their decisions. Among these indirect methods of lobbying, grassroots take a special place. This term grassroots refers to the self-organized activity of groups, their attempt to influence "from the bottom up" by analogy with the growth of grass from the roots. Grassroots involves influencing decision-makers not directly, but through the public, mobilizing support for political interest through mass communication. The power of grassroots is not in financial resources, but in the ability to use the beliefs and efforts of ordinary citizens to shape the political agenda. To mobilize community lobbyists use a combination of public affairs and media relations tools. This method of influence is widely used by non-governmental organizations around the world to ensure the protection of human rights in various spheres at the local, regional, national and international levels - from race, national, religion, gender discrimination to the abortion and climate change. The article analyzes grassroots as a method of lobbying influence by mobilizing the public around a political issue; its content and essence, advantages and risks to the political system are defined. It is determined that grassroots not only enhances the effectiveness of interest group lobbying, but also makes a significant contribution to the development of democracy by promoting public awareness of important political issues, helping ordinary citizens understand the essence and consequences of legislation from a layman's perspective. The author identifies the main grassroots tools, demonstres the specifics of their effective application, emphasizes the key role of mass communication, including social networks, in organizing grassroots lobbying to expand audience coverage and mobilize public support. The importance of astroturfing lobbying as an imitation of grassroots, the creation of artificial public support for political decisions and events, which threatens the democracy and transparency of the political process, is established. Key words: astroturfing, grassroots, interest groups, lobbying, grassroots initiatives, political communications, political decision.

Unpacking Diversity: A Grassroots Initiative and its Institutional Evolution

Here we describe the evolution of a grassroots, graduate student-led initiative, Unpacking Diversity, designed to address the experiences of marginalized BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) scholars in an atmospheric, Earth, and ocean sciences college. Our main activity involved an annual seminar series delivered in partnership with social scientists and humanities scholars to meet the cultural needs of our college. Through this initiative, we held conversations regarding social justice in academia and offered resources to address these issues within the college. Despite high attendance and community-driven efforts to foster inclusivity, a lack of institutional support weakened Unpacking Diversity’s longevity, and organizing efforts became unsustainable for graduate students, primarily women of color. After four years, we decided to retire the initiative. We discuss the factors that contributed to the initiative's success, the obstacles that hindered substantial institutional change, and how this experience helped us create a resilient network of peers

Визуальный облик города и городская коммуникация средствами паблик-арта: российский опыт

This paper examines the dynamics of public art in Russia, explores the diversity of contemporary art forms beyond exhibition halls, and analyses the impact of public art on the image of “central” and “peripheral” areas, as well as on its role in urban communications between the main groups of interested parties. A review of various Russian studies provides an interdisciplinary look into the subject of public art and its evolution over time from a rather narrow definition to a wide variety of interpretations implying many new issues and concepts. Researchers attribute the increasing popularity of this artistic strategy to a combination of multidirectional factors, including the growing interest among municipal and regional authorities in public art as a driving force of territory development; a rising number of curatorial projects aimed at interacting with space and environment in the context of the festival and biennial movement and art residencies; the emergence of grassroots art organizations and initiatives as modes of making artistic or public statements. Remarkable progress in digital technologies prompted attention to the creative potential of digital forms in public art, which open up new possibilities for interaction at the interface of objective and virtual reality. Some of the conclusions suggest that further development of public art presupposes more attention to its social nature and the ability to create social ties through a polylogue between different groups of city dwellers. To encourage the development of urban art based on the principles of social justice, Russia needs to foster a culture of participation as opposed to social atomization. The creation of professional organizations, legitimization and support of grassroots initiatives and artistic self-organizations may prepare the groundwork for this process.

К вопросу о проблематике отечественной бюрократии: социально-философское рассмотрение

The article is an attempt at an unbiased assessment of the role of the Russian bureaucracy in the context of the socio-historical process. With all the diversity of the available theoretical approaches to the phenomenon of domestic bureaucracy, the analysis of historical facts shows that only a centrally soldered authoritarian model that ensures the realization of mobilization potential demonstrated effectiveness. In the course of the historical evolution of the state apparatus, a political and managerial tradition has been formed - a historically established, stable and repetitive system of norms and rules that determines the type of relations primarily within the political and administrative sphere. At the moment, the domestic bureaucracy is one of the main contradictions for the national social system, playing at the same time the role of thesis and antithesis. On the one hand, the established state administrative apparatus is organically connected with society and its destruction will inevitably lead to the social system to a systemic crisis, or even to a rapid collapse. On the other hand, the destructive influence of bureaucratization is obvious and boils down to the following points: 1) lack of flexibility and speed in decision-making, which is relevant for the modern rapidly changing world; 2) the tendency to minimize grassroots initiatives, about the possibilities of which the social majority does not have adequate ideas; 3) alienation between the population and administrative officials, increasingly closing in a separate group, which works against social unity and integrity.

Substance Use Disorder Treatment Quality Standards in Lithuania 1992–2022: From Grassroots Initiatives to Nationwide Strategies

Substance Use Disorder Treatment Quality Standards in Lithuania 1992–2022: From Grassroots Initiatives to Nationwide Strategies

COVID-19 exposes weaknesses in public health in the Peruvian Amazon and highlights opportunities for a One Health approach

Abstract The Amazon is home to important wildlife and a biodiversity hotspot of global importance. The ancestral knowledge kept by Indigenous communities about its fauna and flora contributes further to its irreplaceable value. The Peruvian Amazon was heavily struck by the COVID-19 epidemic with a cumulative incidence of 725, a mortality rate of 34 per 100,000 inhabitants, and a case fatality rate of 4.6% by the end of July 2020. In this work, we review scientific literature and media to trace the events that happened at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic in the Peruvian Amazon. Results are synthesized in three observations: (1) the evolution of the COVID-19 epidemic within the Peruvian Amazon and the response of the Peruvian health care system, (2) Confusing information about Ivermectin use for COVID-19 treatment and prevalent self-medication (3) The response of the traditional Indigenous health care system to the COVID-19 epidemic. These three observations are interdependent. There is an unexploited potential for integrative approaches linking traditional medical practices (TMP) and biomedical approaches and they may benefit from the interactions that occur between them. Synergies can also be explored between the human and animal health care sector, especially in terms of the use and stewardship of medicines. We conclude that there is a benefit of the One Health approach in the region, which can go through the common ambition to improve the integrated health of people, animals and ecosystems, facilitate the enhancement of equity and inclusion while improving access to health services and conserving biodiversity. One Health Impact Statement The Amazon region is home to wildlife flora and fauna and indigenous Amazon communities. The case presented in this work shows that an existing grassroots initiative has been reducing case fatality rates tenfold during the COVID-19 epidemic, while acting in respect towards nature and the environment, and using its resources. This is in stark contrast to the uncontrolled, ineffective self-medication with ivermectin in that same period, which may endanger the biodiversity hotspot through metabolic residues. While the current example seems to illustrate community resilience due to government negligence, it also shows the vastly unexplored potential of integrating biomedical and traditional indigenous knowledge in a solidaric and co-creative framework such as One Health.

Hungarian destinations affected by slow tourism - present and future

This study examines the scientific publications on slow tourism published in Hungary, focusing on literature covering destinations that have proposed slow tourism as a development direction. The present study includes two thematic maps. The first contains the municipalities and regions where a grassroots initiative related to slow tourism exists. The second map has been extended to include the planned development sites. Based on this, the study recommends how the national tourism managment can integrate slow tourism into the domestic tourism mainstream.

ГЛОБАЛЬНЫЙ МИР И ФРОНТОВЫЕ РАНЫ: СОЗДАНИЕ СОВЕТСКОГО КОМИТЕТА ВЕТЕРАНОВ ВОЙНЫ И ПРОТИВОРЕЧИЯ ПОЛИТИКИ ПАМЯТИ В СССР 1950-Х ГОДОВ

The article examines the background and process of creating the Soviet Committee of War Veterans (SKVV) in 1956, as well as its activities in the first years of its existence in the context of international peacekeeping and internal socio-cultural changes. Since 1945, this marked the first attempt to create a public organization that united all major-categories of Soviet veterans of the Great Patriotic War. The Soviet leadership’s desire to join international federa-tions of former World War II participants became primary motivation behind the SKVV’s formation in the mid-1950s. The leadership of the USSR wanted to use the memory of the war in peacekeeping discourse as one of the relevant and effective tools of public diplomacy. To achieve this, they made previously undesirable compromises. For example, they agreed to intensify the exchange of veteran delegations with foreign countries and recognized the veteran status of former Soviet prisoners of war who participated in the resistance movement in Europe. In parallel with international activities in the internal political conditions of the “thaw”, the structures of the SKVV became the environment for the emergence of numerous grassroots initiatives among veterans in social and memorial spheres. As a result, the state-party leadership received not only a new collective actor for public diplomacy, but also a for-malized community of former war veterans who proposed various initiatives and were ready to participate in their implementation. The paper is based on little-known documents from the federal archives, including the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, State Archive of the Russian Federation, and Russian State Archive of Contemporary History.

The Barriers of Co-Creative Service Development Models in the Context of Disadvantaged Rural Areas in Hungary

The paper is based on the observation of the process of reviving the forgotten culture of household economy, horticulture and livestock farming in disadvantaged rural areas and, through this, to develop a new service model for rural communities to strengthen the role of grassroots initiatives and enhancing the mechanisms of the co-operative model of local economy and democracy. Our research has shown that bottom-up models have several barriers to local governments in rural areas. The change in the political and governmental model of the last ten years has resulted in the restraint of local government autonomy and the vacancy of the role of local governments as public service providers. In this system, we can observe the strengthening of administrative dependence, the devaluation of the local elected political leadership (mayors) and the emergence of new rules of local power. In small settlements with less than 2,000 inhabitants, central state and political dependence intensified. Attempts to strengthen local communities have proved to be a major challenge in a highly centralised model of government. The present study gathers the factors that hinder the success of co-creative approaches in the local context and shows how the public service innovations organised by local governments are determined by the political and economic culture prevailing at the national level.

Архивные документы Всероссийского попечительства об охране материнства и младенчества как источник по изучению социальной политики в 1910-е-1918 гг.

The relevance of the study springs from searching for an optimal model of family policy in modern Russia. Research of history of family policy focuses on social transformations in the Soviet period. Contribution of social experiments of the early 20th century is underestimated. New archival documents are rarely involved. The article is to assess the archival potential of fonds and documents of the All-Russian Guardianship of the Maternity and Infancy Protection for studying social family policy and creation of a new system of social assistance in the field of maternity and childhood protection in the 1910s. The key methodological concepts are approaches of social history of medicine, which permit to consider the impact of development of the institute of medicine on social and everyday spheres of life. The main method is content analysis of archival documents and fond series, containing materials on the activities of the Guardianship. The authors have worked with fonds of the Russian State Historical Archive (fond 767), the State Archive of the Russian Federation (fond 1795), the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg (fonds 19, 255, 469). The study of the Guardianship documents has shown that main directions of social policy in the field of maternity and childhood protection were laid down in 1914–18. In that short period, under the crisis conditions of wartime, all existing forms and practices of social policy in this area were used. The success of the Guardianship was determined by its clear organization and involvement of prominent representatives of the expert community. Archival documents have shown that the Guardianship had a fundamentally new organizational status. On the one hand, it performed functions of a ministry (coordination of activities of all organizations implementing social family policy, network of representative offices in the regions, substantial state funding, involvement of prominent statesmen). On the other hand, it had the features of a charitable institution (numerous grassroots initiatives, democratic management style, attracting private funding). The results of its work were forgotten, but the best practices proposed and tested in its active work were used by the Soviet authorities. Its legacy formed a basis for construction of the Soviet system of protection of motherhood and childhood; its results and practices were scaled nationwide and became a part of the state concept of Soviet family policy.

Development of non-public forms of education created and managed by citizens - summary of time perspectives

In the Polish People's Republic (PRL), almost all schools were state-owned and served a subservient role to the communist system. Non-public schools in Poland, which developed in the late 1980s, are either charter schools run by NGOs or private schools run by individuals. The development of non-public schools in Poland was a manifestation of a grassroots initiative of civil society, which did not approve of the totalitarian ideology implemented in public schools and the dysfunctional, backward way of managing these schools. Objective: The aim of the article is to present the dynamics of the development of non-public forms of education in Poland in the years 1989-2014. Research design & Methods: The study used quantitative methodology - statistical data obtained by information registers of public administration. The compilation of these data allowed to show the dynamics of the development of non-public schools in Poland and the direction of development of this phenomenon. Findings: The analysis of the existing data made it possible to draw a specific map of the development of non-public schools according to the number of schools, students, and teachers, also taking into account the geographical distribution of these schools in individual Polish voivodships. The conclusions of the research confirm the thesis that the creation and development of private schools is a phenomenon that from the beginning was a social work - a bottom-up initiative of civil society. Contribution: Filling the research gap in the form of a synthetic approach to the development of education alternatives to public education in Poland, in which the responsibility for the implementation of part of the task of meeting needs and providing well in the form of education was taken over by citizens instead of the state. Spreading awareness among scientists and society of the importance of the issues raised in the article and inspiration for the participation of citizens in social life and their specific impact, the strength of the impact of the changes made on the surrounding reality.

Dismantling colonial monuments in African cities - the example of Bissau. Is an empty plinth still a monument?

This article examines the fate of colonial monuments in Africa during the post-colonial period, especially the monuments that the Portuguese erected in Bissau in West Africa. The discussion is preceded by a detailed analysis of the sources that describe the iconoclasm of colonial monuments in selected African cities and a thorough description of the field studies conducted by the authors in Guinea-Bissau in 2020. As new African states replaced former colonies, the removal of European monuments in their capitals became a widely discussed topic. Some expressly political colonial monuments were removed at the time of formal decolonization, others have fallen down over the years, and yet others still stand. What distinguishes Bissau from every other postcolonial capital in Africa is that, while all its colonial monuments were dismantled after 1973, most of the plinths on which they stood have remained. These empty plinths are a symbol of decolonization – sui generis monuments of dismantled monuments. They speak volumes about the nature of the transformations that have taken place in recent decades. The new way of commemorating people and events in the symbolic and political landscape of Bissau, viz. murals created on the grassroots initiatives of young Bissau-Guineans, is also examined.

The Importance of Green Practices to Reduce Consumption

In modern societies, growing consumption rates lead to the depletion of the planet’s resources and the waste generation. This paper studies green practices aimed at reducing consumption, which were published in social media communities covering separate waste collection. First, we selected nine green practices regarding separate waste collection and classified them as adaptive and transformative. Adaptive practices enhance the adaptability of a society to the deteriorating environment without implying consumption reduction. Transformative practices involve reducing substance and energy consumption due to changes in collective and individual actions. Next, we collected 1987 textual posts of six communities of Tyumen region, Russia, published in social media platform VK, and found all mentions of the nine practices using content and hermeneutic analyses. Finally, we identified transformative practices, such as the practices of exchanging, refusing from purchases, sharing, repairing, and promoting sustainable consumption. The obtained results might help some decision-makers create conditions to disseminate the described practices and to introduce new social practices targeting reducing consumption. We show the possibilities of grassroots initiatives in the greening of society.

Sharing the Reins: The Role of Administrative Inclusive Leadership in Supporting Faculty‐Led DEIB Initiatives

Sharing the Reins: The Role of Administrative Inclusive Leadership in Supporting Faculty‐Led DEIB Initiatives