Suchergebnisse

Citizen activism and political change -- Space for activism? Russia's political and economic transformation -- Environmental organizations in Russia's regions -- Seeking sustainability : dynamics of organizational survival -- Strategies for defending Russia's environment -- Environmentalism and state-society relations in Russia -- A greener future?

Prior to December 2011, instances of widespread collective mobilization were relatively rare in contemporary Russia. Russian citizens are more likely to engage in a different means of airing grievances: making an official complaint to the authorities. This article considers how complaint-making, as a variety of political participation, may contribute either to authoritarian resilience or to political liberalization. The political significance of complaints made to the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Russian Federation is examined. Since it is the broader political context that shapes the significance of complaints, in the absence of meaningful elections individualized appeals to the state are unlikely to promote democratic change, although they may allow for redress of individual rights violations.

In his thoughtful review, Brian Mayer identifies some of the key factors that will shape the future development of Russia's environmental movement. In doing so, he provides me the opportunity to highlight and expand upon these themes. Mayer's comments suggest that the study of social movements is enriched by the interaction of scholars focused on vastly different societies. In this vein, attention to one key aspect of my argument—how activists' diverse interpretations of the Soviet period shape their current perceptions—helps respond to some of the questions that Mayer raises.

Blue–Green Coalitions: Fighting for Safe Workplaces and Healthy Communities. By Brian Mayer. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press and Cornell University Press, 2009. 240p. $57.95 cloth. $19.95 paper.When do labor-environmental coalitions emerge and endure? In a period when headlines are dominated by economic recession, unemployment, and oil spills, the focus of Brian Mayer's book takes on practical urgency. The question is theoretically intriguing as well. Labor unions are often characterized as archetypical interest-based organizations, representing industrial workers' concerns for their own material well-being. Environmental mobilization, in contrast, is seen as a quality-of-life movement most commonly associated with members of the postindustrial middle class who possess leisure time and resources sufficient to enable their activism. When the question of how to regulate industries that employ toxic chemicals arises, these two groups can become locked in an acrimonious jobs versus the environment debate, making them more likely antagonists than allies. This sense of latent opposition is captured by one worker's assertion that greens want to "save the whales and kill the workers" (p. 2). How can these divisions be overcome? In his clearly written and compelling book, Blue–Green Coalitions, Mayer argues that concern over the effects of hazardous materials on human health offers one avenue for generating powerful and enduring coalitions.