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- Aidukaite, Jolanta
(author)
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Community Mobilizations around Housing and Local Environment : Insights into the Case of Vilnius
- 2013
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In: Sociologija. - Vilnius University : Klaipedos University. - 1392-3358 .- 2335-8890. ; 32:1, s. 136-151
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper reviews activities of community organizations in the post-Soviet city of Vilnius. The particular attention is paid to the reasons for mobilization of the local communities; the leadership and motivation; the reasons for non-participation; and the communication with the local authorities. The findings of this paper show that mobilizations are not taking place on the massive scale. However, they are being institutionalized and have achieved noteworthy results. Communities mobilize against illegal or unwanted constructions close to their vicinity or to defend green zones in the city. The successful movement is centered around a charismatic leader who devotes his/her time and non-material and material resources to attain results. The explanations for non-participation can be found in difficult economical conditions of the majority of the population; low level of civil society; increasing individualization and income inequalities. The findings of this paper also demonstrate that the political and institutional structure is fairly unfavorable for local activists. The community organizations are not supported by the local governmental structures in a substantial way. On the contrary, they are faced, in most of the cases, with the authority’s alienation and confrontation.
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| 3. |
- Aidukaite, Jolanta
(author)
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Housing Policy Regime in Lithuania : Towards Liberalization and Marketization
- 2014
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In: GeoJournal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0343-2521 .- 1572-9893. ; 79:4, s. 421-432
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper reviews housing policy development in Lithuania in the light of previous literature which reinterprets Esping-Andersen’s work on welfare regimes and adopts it to study housing policy. It seeks to highlight the major features of the Lithuanian housing policy. The findings of this paper reveal that the Lithuanian housing regime exhibits many features which are common under the liberal one. Most significant of these are low de-commodification for those who have to buy or rent a home for the market price, increasing stratification based on income and the dominant position of the market in housing production, allocation and price determination. However, a detailed examination of the Lithuanian housing policy reveals that the housing policy system, despite having many features similar to the liberal one, has been operating in different social and economic settings as a result of unique historical experience of the communist housing policy (massive production of low quality apartment blocks during the communist era, which currently need substantial renovation) and consequently drastic changes in the housing field since 1990s (massive privatization of the housing stock and decentralization of the housing management system). The Lithuanian housing policy regime could be characterized as a regime with the higher owner-occupation compared to other welfare state regimes, but the lower economic power of the owners to take care of their property maintenance, repair and renovation.
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| 4. |
- Aidukaite, Jolanta
(author)
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Welfare reforms and socio-economic trends in the 10 new EU member states of Central and Eastern Europe
- 2011
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In: Communist and post-communist studies. - : University of California Press. - 0967-067X .- 1873-6920. ; 44:3, s. 211-219
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The paper reviews recent socio-economic changes in the 10 new EU member states of Central and Eastern Europe and the earlier and latest debates on the emergence of the post-communist welfare state regime. It asks two questions: are the new EU member states more similar to each other in their social problems encountered than to the rest of the EU world? Do they exhibit enough common socio-economic and institutional features to group them into the distinct/unified post-communist welfare regime that deviates from any well-known welfare state typology? The findings of this paper indicate that despite some slight variation within, the new EU countries exhibit lower indicators compared to the EU-15 as it comes to the minimum wage and social protection expenditure. The degree of material deprivation and the shadow economy is on average also higher if compared to the EU-15 or the EU-27. However, then it comes to at-risk-of-poverty rate after social transfers or Gini index, some Eastern European outliers especially the Check Republic, but also Slovenia, Slovakia and Hungary perform the same or even better than the old capitalist democracies. Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, however, show many similarities in their social indicators and performances and this group of countries never perform better than the EU-15 or the EU-27 averages. Nevertheless, the literature reviews on welfare state development in the CEE region reveal a number of important institutional features in support of identifying the distinct/unified post-communist welfare regime. Most resilient of it are: an insurance-based programs that played a major part in the social protection system; high take-up of social security; relatively low social security benefits; increasing signs of liberalization of social policy; and the experience of the Soviet/Communist type of welfare state, which implies still deeply embedded signs of solidarity and universalism.
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