a. poviliunas, vilnius university1 lithuanian local community movement as resistance to rural...

A. Poviliunas, Vilnius University 1

Lithuanian Local Community Movement as Resistance to Rural Exclusion

Dr. Arunas PoviliunasVilnius University


The Rise of Rural Communities’ Movement

3

300

800

1400

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1995 2002 2004 2005


The Purpose of Presentation

1. To discuss the concept of rural exclusion and to substantiate the conceptual approach;

2. To elaborate the relevant toolkit for analysis of rural exclusion, that answers the conceptual choice;

3. To investigate the different aspects of rural exclusion;

4. To evaluate the strategies of rural inclusion.


Plan of Presentation

1. Official snapshot of Lithuanian economy2. Official snapshot of Lithuanian rurality3. The profiles of rural exclusion4. Social innovations as public policy tools for

rural social inclusion (participatory action research, partnership approach, digital communities)


Official Snapshot Of Lithuanian Economy


Macroeconomic indicators of Lithuania

20031st qtr

2004 1st qtr

2005 1st qtr

2006 2007 2008

GDP 9.9 7.1 5.6 6 5.3 6.8

EarningsIn EUR

326 332 368 394 428 464

Unemployment 13.6 13.0 10.2 10.3 9.7 8.0

DepositsIn LTL

1962 2347 3019


Average monthly social transfers by place of residence, Per capita, LTL

Total Urban areas Rural areas

2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004

Total 107,2 117,8 104,3 110,6 113,1 132,2

Pensions 72,1 78,9 70,5 71,9 75,4 92,8

Family and child

9,2 11,3 7,6 11,8 12,5 10,2

Unemployed 1,7 1,4 1,8 1,3 1,5 1,8


Official snapshot of Lithuanian rurality


The percentage of farm groups by the area of arable land (in ha) compared to the number of farms


Changes in gross agriculture production (compared to previous year)

-5

-14

5

-5

89

-0,4

-4

-14

8

-7

78

-5

-9

-19

-3

-1

11 11

15

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Gross production

Gross production in farmer's and family farms

Gross production in agriculture companies and enterprises


Relative poverty level by socio-economic group (in per cent)

16,6 16 15,8 16,5 16,6 15,9 16,1

12,8 12,1 11,5 11,6 11 11,4 11,6

30,2

32,2

39,9

35,7 35,9

28,830,1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1997 1998 1999 2001 2002 2003 2004

Relative poverty line

Hired emploees

Farmers


Relative poverty level by the place of residence (in per cent)

16,616 15,8

16,615,9 16,1

9,78,5

7,2 7,1 7,68,8

15,414,3

13,7

15,7

1414,8

25,926,5

28,2 28,527,4

25,7

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1997 1998 1999 2002 2003 2004

Relative poverty line

5 large cities

Other towns

Rural areas


The conclusions from the snapshot1. The growth of economy is recording comparatively high rates. But

this growth is mostly linked with the sectors of economy that are associated first of all with the urban sector of economy.

2. One third (1.3 million) of Lithuanian population are living in rural areas. The poverty level in rural areas is more than three times higher than in urban areas. One third of farmers are living under relative poverty line. The official discourse verdict is that family farms and small farms that constitute the core of Lithuanian agriculture have no perspective. By the way the family farms the corner stone of Lithuanian agriculture reform. As Illka Alanen has demonstrated Lithuanian government was most successful in implementation of the ‘enforced World Bank project’.

3. Official rural statistics that is concentrating on the perspectives and problems of agriculture “has forgotten” the rest of rural population that amount up to one million of people.

4. I want to finish the discussion of this snapshot with the essential assumption of may report that this snapshot and inner logic of data presentation reflects not the rural situation as it is, but the stance and configuration of power that is producing the dominating official discourse of rurality.


The profiles of rural exclusion


Persons by categories who receives social assistance at home

Total Urban areas Rural areas

2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004

Elderly 3443 3642 1832 2004 1611 1638

Disabled children 97 109 69 77 28 32

Children from the families at risk

721 745 336336 140140 385385 605605

Persons and families at risk

665 731 262262 221221 403403 510510


Dynamics of children from ‘the families at risk’ and persons and families at risk (excessive drinking, drug abuse, etc.) who are recipients of social assistance at home in rural and urban areas (%)

24

9

28

41

1915

2935

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2003 2004

persons and families at risk (excessivedrinking, drug abuse, etc.) in rural areas

persons and families at risk (excessivedrinking, drug abuse, etc.) in urban areas

children from the families at risk in ruralareas

children from the families at risk in urbanareas


Dynamics of “social families” and their children

15,116

18,1 18,7 18,5 17,916,9

34,4

36,9

40,3

42,8

4039,2

36,9

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Asocial families

Children of asocial families


Asocial family

Families, that are registered by the municipal agencies of the protection of children's’ right for the excessive drinking, drug or other toxic material abuse, unmoral behaviour, lifestyle that is unacceptable for the society, bad care of their children, neglecting their health and inability to guarantee the harmonious and well-rounded development of their children

Department of Statistics


Indicators of “asocial behaviour”

Excessive drinking Unmoral behaviour Unacceptable for the society lifestyle Bad care of children Inability to guarantee the harmonious

and well-rounded development of the children


If social exclusion is understood as:

(a) exclusion of different social groups to participate in the mainstream of societal development;

(b) those social groups which are less integrated and which have less possibilities to participate in political, social, economic and cultural life;

(c) shrinking public sphere.


At least two different concepts of social exclusion are possible:

1. Structural or positivistic approach delineates the norms and values of the society that are treated as objectively given, focuses on the characteristics of excluded social groups and analyzes conditions that provoke behaviour which does not answer the accepted by the majority norms of the society. This approach is based on psychological or sociological forms of determinism and treats social agency as the function of various so-called objective structures.

2. Interactive approach focuses on the definitions and actions both of the socially excluded groups themselves and of the groups who label them as socially excluded, and interaction between the two.


Classification of Discourses by Ruth Levitas

Moral underclass discourse (MUD) Social integrationist discourse (SID) Redistributionist discourse (RED)

“RED, SID and MUD differ in what the excluded are seen as lacking. In RED they have no money, in SID they have no work, and in MUD they have no morals.”

Ruth Levitas


“Political exclusion” of rural communities Agriculture development policy do not treat the rural

development policy as separate issue The strategic priorities are linked with the

development of agriculture Rural communities are not considered as social and

political agents able to participate in the rural development

Decline in investment in the rural social infrastructure (schools, medical service, cultural institutions, etc.)

Permanent increase of the subsidies of social transfers.


Changes in average rural household incomes

10,5 7,5 4,5

67,866

63

21,726,5

32,5

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1996 2000 2004

Social transfers

Income from employment

Other income


Changes in average urban household incomes

10,5 10,86,7

67,8 69,3 73,8

21,7 19,9 19,5

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1996 2000 2004

Social transfers

Income from employment

Other income


Comparison of Agricultural and Rural Development Policies

Agricultural development

Rural development

Social agent Farmers, entrepreneurs, agricultural corporations

Rural communities, community groups, partnership groups

Goals Competitive agriculture Reduction of social exclusion and poverty in rural areas, improvements in rural social infrastructure

Basis to receive support

Business plan Strategic plans for the development of rural communities

Means Effective investments Social initiatives and innovations (formation of partnership groups, social entrepreneurship, surveys conducted with community participation)

Supporters Banks, business partners Charity organizations, national and foreign donor groups, LEADER+


Social Innovations as Public Policy Tools for Rural Social Inclusion


Selection of cases of social innovations

Participatory research

Social partnership

Digital communities

Local level Case of Balninkai community

Case of initiative “Toward digital communities”

Regional level Case of Moletai county

National level


Participatory Research: Case of Balninkai Community


Participatory action research“a participatory, democratic process concerned with developing practical knowing in the pursuit of worthwhile human purposes, grounded in a participatory worldview which we believe is emerging at this historical moment. It seeks to bring together action and reflection, theory and practice, in participation with others, in the pursuit of practical solutions to issues of pressing concern to people, and more generally the flourishing of individual persons and their communities.”

Peter Reason and Hilary Bradbury


Participatory action research

Method of research Democratization of the

knowledge generation procedures

Technology of social innovation


Some principles of the Freirerian pedagogy

Conscientização or conscientization

Banking education and culture of silence

Critical consciousness and dialogue

“Generative words and themes”


“Generative themes”

“Asocial family” Social exclusion Rural exclusion Rural development policy


Usual type and the desirable leisure of time of the Balninkai community members (%) (“generative theme”)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Chore or home care

Watching TV

Communications with spouse and children

House surroundings care

Reading newspapers, books

Hobbies (knitting, fishing, etc.)

Communications with neigbors and friends

Café visiting

Participation in cultural life

Usual Desirable


Types of Rural Community Organizations and Dimensions of Analysis (A. Juska, A. Poviliunas, R. Pozzuto, 2004)


Key Success Factors of Balninkai Community Centre1. Effective leadership and management of the Community

Centre2. Support of the Church and participation of the Priest in the

activities of Balninkai Community Centre (BBC)3. Recognition of the BBC by the Balninkai community4. Recognition by the members of BBC of the Importance of

Strategic Planning5. Success in the early stages of the process 6. Effective and intensive public relation campaign lead by BBC

inside the Balninkai Community7. Effective public relation campaign on regional, national and

even international levels. Effective use of ICT for accessing and disseminating relevant information

8. Support of Municipality and Mayor.9. Commitment to ongoing training and capacity building10. Ability to initiate the appropriate structures and to involve new

members at various stages of community development


Social Partnership Approach: Case of Moletai County


Model of Social Partnership


Moletai County Rural Policy Network


Nework of Communities’ Policy


Digital Communities: Case of Initiative “Toward digital communities”


Goals of the project “Toward Digital Communities” foster a more active use of the

opportunities of information technologies in rural communities for the purposes of strengthening and modernizing their own activities.

to create and propagate incentive models and examples of good practice for modernization of communities by the use of IT opportunities.

to evaluate rural areas inhabitants’ potential to modernize by the use of IT possibilities.


LITNETLITNET

Aljansas LAAljansas LA

Rural Areas Having Internet Connection Rural Areas Having Internet Connection –– 20020033


LITNETLITNET

Aljansas LAAljansas LA

PHAREPHARE

Rural Areas Having Internet Connection Rural Areas Having Internet Connection –– 20052005


1. Strengthening specific communities organizations


Main principles of strengthening local communities based on the active involvement of community

members in the drafting of IT application project and making them the agents of a continuous (not a temporary) change of the community;

active dialogue with local inhabitants and stimulation of discussions inside of organization;

aimed at upholding the idea of ownership of ideas. Consultants are mere encouragers and facilitators and not generators of ideas nor decision makers.

we start off not by technologies but rather by identifying a problem, then informational, communicational needs and only then technologies

development of hybrid skills.


Regional Consultants


Communities that Drafted IT Application Projects


2. Strengthening of the national community communication network


Community Portal http://www.bendruomenes.lt public space for community

communication, sharing of experience, presentation of the information about themselves;

informational instrument on the introduction of various opportunities for communities;

storage of all-accessible educational materials, conference, seminar webcasting;

ground for testing the opportunities and applicability of new IT instruments.


Community organizations, by modernizing their activities, undergo certain transformations

They become ‘learning organizations’ with significantly enhanced absorption capabilities for new knowledge;

They become ‘change agents’ in the local community; They become ‘PR’ organizations capable of spreading

the information about themselves in various ways, including the use of information technologies;

They establish communication networks with other organizations and become ‘moderators’ and ‘maintainers’ of these networks;

With the help of ‘network’ and ‘PR’ activities, community organizations successfully accumulate social capital allowing them to enhance their power


Problems One of the most acute problems – the gap between the community

activists and the rest of the community members. In same cases, instead of becoming ‘changes agents” the activists become ‘local elite’;

The lack of possibilities of education and development of various hybrid skills for adult rural inhabitants. The majority of trainings take place in the centres of the districts, therefore, the participation in these trainings requires distraction from work, which causes various additional expenses and it is impossible;

Due to the closure of various foreign funds, there are no opportunities for drafting and implementing small-scale pilot projects to test local initiatives. To develop the draft proposal for structural funds is to complicate for such community organisations;

A number of rural areas still suffer from the poor quality of internet connections, extremely poor carrying capacity preventing the people from a possibility to use collaborative software tools, video and audio conferencing and webcasting tools.


Recommendations for public policy Emphasize the strand of knowledge society in rural areas in

national documents defining the future support from the EU.

To support small-scale community activities’ modernization projects that would stimulate the application of the acquired knowledge;

To promote research and experimental activities for the needs of introducing IT possibilities in rural activities and for the assessment of the impact to the social changes. A special attention should be paid to development of collaborative software, which could be used for the needs of partnership, team working, collaborative learning based on the basis of broadband possibilities.

To encourage a more active participation in solving of the problems of rural areas of universities, in particular colleges (e.g. Cultivating service learning)


Conclusions – Two different concepts of rurality


Official – Excluded ruralities

Predominates positivistic deterministic approach

Prevails moral underclass discourse Actor – “socialized role-playing

sanctioned man” SRSM, i.e. dependant on or determined by structures.

(S. Lindenberg)


Alternative – included rurality

Predominates critical and constructivist approach

Prevails redistributive discourse Actor – Resourceful restricted

expecting evaluating maximizing man RREEMM, i.e. rational, active and acting

(S. Lindenberg)

a. poviliunas, vilnius university1 lithuanian local community movement as resistance to rural...

Documents

vilnius university9

cent slide

vilnius university2

vilnius university3

vilnius university14

official rural statistics

number of farms slide

profiles of rural exclusion