Resourceful civil society: navigating the changing landscapes of civil society organizations

This open access book examines how civil society organizations in Poland, Russia, and Sweden (re)act to transformations of opportunities and limitations in access to various forms of resources. The volume’s contributions discuss the constraints associated with different types of resources as well as organizations’ capacities to generate resources—or compensate for their lack—as they negotiate and contest barriers. The resourcefulness of civil society is revealed to be rooted in a variety of capabilities: converting resources, eliciting organizational change, and metamorphosing in response to organizational and environmental development. Zhanna Kravchenko is Associate Professor of Sociology at Södertörn University, Sweden. She has published on various aspects of societal transformation in Russia. Her current research examines the development of civil society, with a particular focus on the role of transnational funding for civil society organizations working with human rights and democracy. Lisa Kings is Associate Professor of Social Work at Södertörn University, Sweden. She has conducted extensive empirical and theoretical research in the field of civil society, including urban social movements. Her recent work focuses on action research and connecting academic research to civil society practice. Katarzyna Jezierska is Associate Professor of Political Science at University West, Sweden. Her research interests center on the intersections between civil society and formal politics. She has published on radical democratic subjectivity, think tanks’ involvement in policymaking, and the engagement of diplomats with civil society actors .

1. Introduction, Zhanna Kravchenko, Lisa Kings and Katarzyna Jezierska -- Part I. Resources as Constraints -- 2. Pecunia olet: The funding dilemma for think tanks in Poland, Katarzyna Jezierska -- 3. Domestic funding for civil society in a non-democratic context: The example of the Presidential Grants in Russia, Yulia Skokova and Christian Fröhlich -- 4.Polish human rights organizations: Resisting institutional pressures, Zhanna Kravchenko, Katarzyna Jezierska, Marta Gumkowska, Beata Charycka, and Magdalena Szafranek -- 5. . Rural community development in Sweden: From challenging to mainstream?, Anette Forsberg -- Part II. External Constraints and Facilitators of Resources- 6. From local to digital and back: E-resourcefulness among urban movements in Poland, Anna Domaradzka.-7. Between autonomy and compliance: The organizational development of Russian civil society, Vsevolod Bederson and Andrei Semenov -- 8. Navigating contemporary developments in Swedish civil society: The case of Save the Children Sweden, Lisa Kings -- 9. Humane resources? The people behind Polish civil society organizations, Galia Chimiak -- Part III. Organizations and Resources: Intertwined Transformations -- 10. Doing the right things or doing things right? Exploring the relationship between professional autonomy and resources in volunteering, Cecilia Gullberg and Noomi Weinryb -- 11. Liberty, loyalty, and solidarity. The role of transnational, national, and local resources in voluntary organizations in Russia, Zhanna Kravchenko -- 12. Resources shifting values: Online and offline resources in Swedish civil society, Håkan Johansson and Gabriella Scaramuzzino.-Chapter -- 13. St. Petersburg LGBTQI+ activists negotiating financial and symbolic resources, Pauliina Lukinmaa.-Chapter 14. Epilogue, Apostolis Papakostas.