The role of leaders in shaping urban movements: a study of community mobilisation in Lithuania

ABSTRACT

This study explores the role of leaders in shaping post-communist urban community mobilisation. It analyses the motivation of 40 leaders in volunteering for the community. Building on Ganz's definition of “strategic capacity”, the Balsiai community organisation, in which the leader's role is most prominent, is scrutinised in detail. The findings show that community mobilisation is highly dependent on a devoted leader who sacrifices his/her own resources for the community's good. This study demonstrates that in countries with a weak participatory culture, a leader can play a crucial role in mobilising a community and challenging prevailing social norms and institutional structures.

KEYWORDS:

• The leader
• community organisation
• mobilisation
• motivation
• strategic capacity
• Lithuania

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Kerstin Jacobsson for critique and inspiration.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Jolanta Aidukaitė is Senior Researcher at the Lithuanian Social Research Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. Examples of her other publications include “The Formation of Social Insurance Institutions of the Baltic States in the Post-socialist Era” (Journal of European Social Policy, 2006), “Transformation of Welfare Systems in the Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania” (in Post-Communist Welfare Pathways: Theorizing Social Policy Transformations, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), “Welfare Reforms and Socio-economic Trends in the Ten New EU Member States of Central and Eastern Europe” (Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 2011).

Notes

1. Vilnius is the capital and largest city in the country with a little more than 500,000 inhabitants. Kaunas is second largest in Lithuania according to its size with about 300,000 inhabitants (Lietuvos Statistikos Departamentas 2012).

2. There are 21 neighbourhoods in Vilnius and 11 in Kaunas. The interviews were carried out with the community organisations from the following neighbourhoods in Vilnius: Viršuliškių, Žvėrynas, Senamiesčio, Antakalnio, Karoliniškių, Baltupių, Žirmūnų, Naujamiesčio, Pilaitė, Balsių, Užupio, Šnipiškių, Justiniškių, Grigiškių, Naujosios Vilnius, Jeruzalė, Pašilaičiai, Vilkpedė, Salininkai, and Aukštieji Paneriai. The interviews in Kaunas were carried out with the leaders of community organisations representing the following neighbourhoods: Dainavos, Gričiupio, Palemono, Petrašiūnų, Eigulių, Kalniečių, Šilainių, Aleksoto, Sargėnų, and Žaliakalnio.

3. Lithuania joined the EU in 2004.

4. The district is an establishment subordinated to the municipality, which has direct and closer links to the community's inhabitants and is financed from the municipality's budget. There are 21 districts in Vilnius and 11 in Kaunas.

5. Based on Lietuvos vietos bendruomenių sąjunga (n.d.).

6. Based on Kauno bendruomenių centrų asociacija (n.d.).

7. According to the Lithuanian Law on Personal Income Tax Act, permanent residents of Lithuania have a right to support the selected entity by 2% of their income tax, which could be transferred each year to the selected entity.

8. Based on the interview with the leader of the Balsiai community and on the annual reports of the Balsiai community organisation (Balsių bendruomenė 2014).

9. Based on Grigalūnienė (2011).

10. Interview from the newspaper article by Valevičienė (2010).

11. The bronze Christopher's statuette is awarded by the Mayor of Vilnius for notable contributions to the city in the areas of education, culture, law, medicine, science, sport, business, etc. It may be awarded to persons (citizens and foreigners), as well as institutions and organisations (Vilnijos vartai 2014a).

12. Based on Balsių bendruomenė (2014).

Additional information

Funding

This article has been supported by the Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies [grant number 753/42/2012].