Women's Social Activism in the New Ukraine: Development and the Politics of Differentiation

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development and the politics of differentiation • s a r a h d . p h i l l i p s Women’s Social Activism in the New Ukraine Women’s Social Activism in the New Ukraine phillips INDIANA University Press Bloomington & Indianapolis http://iupress.indiana.edu 1-800-842-6796 INDIANA When the socialist regimes of Eastern Europe fell in the early 1990s, it was assumed that robust civil societies would be the key to establishing democracy in the region.Western governments allocated millions of dollars to civil society building efforts, especially nongovernmental organizations. In postsocialist Ukraine, with privatization and the scaling back of the social safety net, it is primarily women who have been left as leaders of service-oriented NGOs and mutual-aid associations, caring for the marginalized and destitute with little or no support from the Ukrainian state. In this compelling study, Sarah D. Phillips follows eleven activists over the course of several years to document the unexpected effects that social activism has produced for Ukraine’s women as they take up the “housework of politics.” While NGO activism is generally assumed to be empowering in such situations, Phillips reveals the NGO sector to be a site for postsocialist “differentiation” of citizens, as criteria for productive citizenship are reworked, and the rights and needs of various categories of citizens redefined. By viewing the women’s experiences in the broader context of social change, Ukrainian social welfare reform, and international development programs, Phillips examines intertwining processes of differentiation as certain types of claims, organizations, and NGO leaders are privileged over others, sharpening social inequalities. sarah d. phillips is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University, Bloomington. New Anthropologies of Europe Daphne Berdahl, Matti Bunzl, and Michael Herzfeld, founding editors Cover illustration:Women at an AIDS awareness march in Kyiv. Cover photo courtesy of UNIAN. Russia & Eastern Europe Women’s Studies Anthropology Cover illustration: Women at an AIDS awareness march in Kyiv. Cover photo courtesy of UNIAN. Women’s Social Activism in the New Ukraine New Anthropologies of Europe Daphne Berdahl, Matti Bunzl, and Michael Herzfeld, founding editors SARAH D. PH I LLIPS Women’s Social Activism in the New Ukraine Development and the Politics of Differentiation indiana university press Bloomington and Indianapolis This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA http://iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail iuporder@indiana.edu©2008 by Sarah D. Phillips All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Phillips, Sarah D. Women's social activism in the new Ukraine : development and the politics of differentiation / Sarah D. Phillips. p. cm. — (New anthropologies of Europe) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-253-35164-7 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-21992-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Women social reformers—Ukraine. 2. Non-governmental organizations—Ukraine. 3. Ukraine—Social conditions—1991– I. Title. HQ1236.5.U38P45 2008 303.48′409477—dc22 2007047359 1 2 3 4 5 13 12 11 10 09 08 In loving memory of my mother, June H. Phillips, my grandmother, Erah Howell, and my friend, Faina Neiman. “She hath done what she could.” ...