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Community Development Journal Advance Access published online on February 25, 2005
Community Development Journal, doi:10.1093/cdj/bsi049
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© Oxford University Press and Community Development Journal. 2005 All rights reserved

Article

Rural grass-roots organizing in eastern Europe: the experience from Lithuania

Arunas Juska 1*, Arunas Poviliunas 2, and Richard Pozzuto 3

1 Department of Sociology, East Carolina University, 410-A Brewster, 10th Street, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
2 Department of Sociology, Vilnius University, Lithuania
3 East Carolina University, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Arunas Juska, E-mail: juskaa{at}mail.ecu.edu


  Abstract

This article examines rural grass-roots organizing in Lithuania. A conceptual scheme is proposed to differentiate among three types of activities prevalent in rural community building: the initiation, voluntary communal activities, and not-for-profit communal activities. The model is applied to examine the establishment of one of the most successful rural non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Eastern Lithuania - the Community Centre of Balninkai village (population 496). The strategies that were used to initiate the Balninkai organization and to engage in voluntary communal and not-for-profit activities are identified. Internal and external factors influencing successful organizing are addressed as well as the potential impact of European Union membership. While there are numerous obstacles facing rural activists in post-socialist Lithuania, there are also significant opportunities for community organizations to contribute to sustained rural development in Lithuania.


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