What do we choose : freedom to associate or freedom to remain apart? Lithuania

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Visuomenė; Pilietinė visuomenė; Pilietinės visuomenės organizacijos; Nevyriausybinės organizacijos; Savanorystė; Pilietinis įsitraukimas; Pilietiniai judėjimai; Politinė veikla; Pokyčiai; Tyrimai; Lithuania; Society; Civil society; Civil society organizations; Non-governmental organizations; Voluntarism; Civic engagement; Civil movements; Political activities; Changes; Research.

ENThis chapter is based on a mixed-methods study of civic engagement and nongovernmental organization (ngo) participation in Lithuania Specifically, the study examines the dynamic changes in the landscape of Lithuanian ngos over time. The author finds that while the number of organizations has been on the rise, citizen engagement with these organizations remains relatively unchanged, reinforcing this book’s overall argument regarding the lack of qualitative developments within the sector, despite the evident growth in the numbers of nonprofit organizations (NPOS). These dynamics, the author suggests, could be attributed to the Soviet heritage and negative experiences offorced participation in formal social organizations that might have crowded out citizen motivation to voluntarily participate in such organizations. The chapter asks important questions in the greater remit of this volume, namely: At what point in history and under what circumstances can societies in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia (EERCA) begin to alleviate this negative path dependency? Additionally, why do younger generations of Lithuanian citizens seem to exhibit similar beliefe and motivations to generations bom and raised under Soviet rule? The study takes a closer look at the dynamic of citizen participation in different types of organizations aver time, and identifies and discusses the predictors of participation, including both motivational variables and sociodemographic variables. Thesefactors, in turn, are of critical importance to the spirit of sustainable associational activity in the region. [From the publication]

• Kokio darbo pageidauja jaunimas ir ką siūlo pagyvenusių žmonių globos sektorius / Laima Okunevičiūtė Neverauskienė, Laimutė Žalimienė, Jolita Junevičienė. Filosofija. Sociologija 2021, t. 32, Nr. 2, p. 118-125.
• Quantitative growth of the NGO sector in Lithuania: when the number of organizations increases without significant effects on participation level / Rūta Žiliukaitė. Sociologija. Mintis ir veiksmas. 2012, Nr. 1 (30), p. 242-257.