Meri Kulmala

The Carrot or the Stick? Constraints and Opportunities of Russia’s CSO Policy

This collection of essays is devoted to analysis of current trends in Russian civil society development after the recent changes in the state policy that both restricts and supports the activities of Russian civil society organisations (CSOs). Many of the essays in this collection were first presented at the international conference ‘“Between the Carrot and the Stick”: Emerging Needs and Forms for Non-State Actors including NGOs and Informal Organisations in Contemporary Russia’. The conference was organised by the Centre for Independent Social Research in collaboration with the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Russian Studies at the Aleksanteri Institute (University of Helsinki), and took place in January 2016.1 The essays focus on CSOs and state–society relations in contemporary Russia. Nearly all are based on recent field research including interviews with CSO leaders, activists, and other actors connected with the sector. Overall, they paint a negative but nuanced picture of organisations confronting restrictive government legislation, particularly the so-called ‘Foreign Agents Law’ (Federal Law No. 121), which controls Russian CSOs that receive international funding and engage in political activity.2 The authors report damaging effects of the law on individual CSOs, including those in particular issue areas such as environmental and human rights organisations, and the sector as a whole. The essays discuss NGOs’ survival strategies in the face of these new restrictions, documenting an impressive range of strategies that reveal the resourcefulness and resilience of the sector. Contributors also address the Russian state’s efforts to engage ‘socially oriented’ NGOs (SONGOs) in social policy-making and the delivery of social services. Some contributors see these efforts as just another part of the state’s campaign to control CSOs. Others take the more nuanced view that the Russian state, while restricting CSOs, is at the same time building up SONGOs’ capabilities in order to improve the performance of the