TY - JOUR

T1 - An Older Woman in the Local Community in Russia

T2 - Neighbors, Nongovernmental Organizations, and the Housing and Communal System

AU - Grigoryeva, I. A.

AU - Kelasyev, O. V.

N1 - Funding Information: The article was prepared at the St. Petersburg State University with the support of grant of the Russian Science Foundation, 19-18-00246, “Challenges in the Transformation of the Welfare State in Russia: Institutional Changes, Social Investment, and Digitization of Social Services.” Publisher Copyright: © 2020, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2020/10

Y1 - 2020/10

N2 - Abstract: The article examines the development of the local self-organization of retired women who are actively involved in the resolution of housing issues at their place of residence in St. Petersburg. The socio-spatial approach to aging, which is also referred to as “aging in place/in a community,” serves as the theoretical framework. This type of aging requires an active approach to the customary environment of the elderly and their support. Groups of older women generate activists who have free time and the necessary competencies and who are ready to promote the interests of all of the residents of an apartment building, neighborhood, or a district. Therefore, the empirical basis of the article was mainly material from interviews with female activists. In the housing and communal system, which is full of intricate, semilegal schemes that are invisible and incomprehensible to the majority of ordinary citizens, activists are not always able to enter into an equitable dialogue with the controlling bodies and managers. In order to make insignificant changes, older activists are sometimes required to take tremendous efforts and develop new competencies that help to overcome barriers and defend the collective interests.

AB - Abstract: The article examines the development of the local self-organization of retired women who are actively involved in the resolution of housing issues at their place of residence in St. Petersburg. The socio-spatial approach to aging, which is also referred to as “aging in place/in a community,” serves as the theoretical framework. This type of aging requires an active approach to the customary environment of the elderly and their support. Groups of older women generate activists who have free time and the necessary competencies and who are ready to promote the interests of all of the residents of an apartment building, neighborhood, or a district. Therefore, the empirical basis of the article was mainly material from interviews with female activists. In the housing and communal system, which is full of intricate, semilegal schemes that are invisible and incomprehensible to the majority of ordinary citizens, activists are not always able to enter into an equitable dialogue with the controlling bodies and managers. In order to make insignificant changes, older activists are sometimes required to take tremendous efforts and develop new competencies that help to overcome barriers and defend the collective interests.

KW - aging in place

KW - barriers of interactions

KW - housing and communal sector

KW - local community

KW - nongovernmental organizations

KW - older woman activists

KW - public utilities sector

KW - non-government organizations

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097380477&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/c72674e1-ffae-32d4-9f67-0d8e09b21c01/

U2 - 10.1134/S2079057020040074

DO - 10.1134/S2079057020040074

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85097380477

VL - 10

SP - 317

EP - 323

JO - Advances in Gerontology

JF - Advances in Gerontology

SN - 2079-0570

IS - 4

ER -