How about a conversation? Socio-organizational characteristics of collective action in contemporary Moscow

Bederson V.D.,

elibrary_id: 679075 | ORCID: 0000-0002-8532-0032 | RESEARCHER_ID: P-6817-2017

DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2022.03.13

For citation:

Bederson V.D. How about a conversation? Socio-organizational characteristics of collective action in contemporary Moscow. – Polis. Political Studies. 2022. No. 3. P. 176-191. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2022.03.13

The study was supported by a grant from the President of the Russian Federation for state support of young Russian scientists – candidates of sciences (grant MK-328.2020.6). The author is grateful to Vyacheslav Loginov for help with data collection, Eleonora Minaeva and Andrey Semenov for advice and recommendations.

Abstract

The focus of this study is the mobilization and collective action of contemporary Moscow citizens. The research question deals with the socio-organizational factors that influence collective actions of different types among citizens. The research is based on theories of trust and social capital, as well as organizational density and resource mobilization. The key source of data in the article is the results of a mass representative survey in 30 districts of Moscow, as well as data on NGOs registered in these districts. Based on the analysis of literature, the author puts forward a theoretical assumption about the relationship between the characteristics of interactions and communication of people, as well as organizational structures – with the involvement of citizens in various types of collective actions. The formal models partially confirm the hypotheses. Expectations regarding the relationship between the form of home management, the frequency of interpersonal neighborhood interactions, the ownership and the length of residence did not show a statistically significant relationship with citizens’ participation in collective actions. In contrast, communication factors – involvement in home affairs (participation in meetings and similar activities) and involvement in neighborhood / district social networks and messengers – turned out to be significant and showed a positive association with participation in collective actions of all types. Organizational factors also showed a positive relationship: the analysis suggests that the density of civic associations is associated with the participation of citizens in collective action. At the same time, the organizational factor is significant for collective actions of various types. The results indicate that for Moscow citizens communication in institutional forms is an important pre-condition for mobilizing citizens to participate in collective actions of various types: both politicized in the form of public protest actions and nonpoliticized in the form of charity or subbotniks.

Keywords

collective action, mobilization, organizational structures, NGOs, civic activism.

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