Civil Society and Citizenship

Now we turn to more of the research I began about the civil society sector! I know it took awhile, but remember at first I wanted to focus on the women’s NGOs, so this would have been background to a women’s rights focus. That or I probably didn’t discover the book until later. I find it best to start off with a definition of civil society, for I find it is hard to explain to those who are not sure what it is already. I often find myself relying on examples alone. “You know The Red Cross? Amnesty International? National Organization of Women? THOSE are NGOs.” In comes Lester Salamon with the save: “they are all organizations that operate outside the state apparatus, that do not distribute profits, and that citizens are free to join or not join to pursue common purposes” (Salamon et al, xvii). In addition there are 5 characteristics that are required of civil society organizations (Salamon et al, 3-4):

1. organizations: they have an institutional presence and structure
2. private: they are institutions separate from the state.
3. non-profit distributing: they do not return profits to their managers or to a set of owners
4. self governing:  they are fundamentally in control of their own affairs
5. voluntary: membership in them is not legally required and they attract some level of voluntary contribution of time or money

The importance of the civil society sector has began to be seen as “strategically important participants in this search for a ‘middle way’ between sole reliance on the market and sole reliance on the state that now seems to be increasingly underway” (Salomon et al, 5). There is a general acceptance that the government can not serve all of the needs of its citizens, thus the civil society sector is beginning to bridge that gap between public and private services. The civil society sector is also considered a critical part of a democratic society.

Part of being part of a member of a democratic society is the right of citizenship. Citizenship can define “the limits of state power and where a civil society or the private sphere of free individuals begin” (Yuval-Davis & Werbner, 2). In fact, democratic citizenship maintains the right to be different. Yet, while allowing different parties to emerge, and being a part of the nation, each person has a different view of citizenship because citizenship encapsulates specific, historically inflected, cultural and social assumptions about similarity and difference” (Yuval-Davis & Werber, 3). Further, Yuval-Davis and Werber argue that citizenship is at the intersection of the state, civil society and an individual intersect.

But for me? The best quote I have found is this: Unlike nationalism, which grounds itself in past myths of common origin or culture, citizenship raises its eyes towards the future to common destinies” (Yuval-Davis & Werber, 8).

Nira Yuval-Davis & Pnina Werbner, “Women & the New Discourse of Citizenship,” in Women, Citizen & Difference, 1-38, ed by Nira Yuval-Davis and Prina Werber. London: Zed Books, 1999.

global Civil Society Dimensions of the Non-Profit sector, ed Lester Slamon, Helmut Anheier, Regina List, Stefan Toepler, S. Wojciech Sokolowski and Associates. Baltimore: The John Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies, 1999.

“Preface”

“Civil Society in Comparitive Perspective” 3-39

Intersecton of gender and The State

The book Gender, Politics and the State edited by Vicky Randall and Georgina Waylan is aptly named. Most articles connect the three and how they interact with each other. Yet, we as readers and thinkers need to understand that you cannot analyze women and/in politics without both understanding the structures that constrain choices that individual women make and impact that other choices have on the state and those structures (Waylan, 2). In addition, often times we refer to “the state” or “the government” without realizing that they are not “a unitary structure but a differentiated set of institutions, agencies and discourses, and the product of a particular historical and political conjuncture” (Waylan, 7). Waylan concludes that thus, the state (and its gender policies) are a reflection of the society that built it as well as the society that is currently using it (7).
There are three ways that the state implements policies towards women

1. policies actually aimed at women
1. such as protective legislation (in the workplace) and laws aimed at reproduction
2. policies dealing with relations between men and women
1. such as property rights, sexuality, family relations
1. these are often insitutionalized
3. General policies (which are further sub categorized as
1. “gender neutral” policies
2. policies linked to the public sphere and seen as masculine
1. state-defined politics, war, foreign policy, international trade, resource extraction and long distance communication
3. policies concerned with welare and social reproduction
1. home related issues, health and education

[Taken from Charlto et al. (1989) “Women, the State & Development,” Albany, NY: SUNY Press, but found in Waylan, 9-10]

These discussions are important to keep in mind as I switch to the interaction between sex and the state. A helpful definition of the modern European state is one that has the “power which claims the supreme right to make and enforce rules for all the inhabitants of a given territory” (Vogel, 32). In addition, “the state serves to establish a legal order capable of enforcing the peaceful coexistence and cooperation among individuals” (Vogel, 32). A being part of a modern state, an important concept is citizenship. Citizenship “provides a major link between states, individuals and collectives” (Waylan, 12). Citizenship is often presumed to be universal by the fact that citizens are defined by “what they have in common and in opposition to the particular characters of different groups” as well as the idea that “laws and rules are the same for all and are blind to particular individual and group differences” (Nash, 46).

The UN Commission on the Status of Women has been requesting all states to set up “specialized institutions to advance the economic, social and political position of women” (Howell, 167). While Howell notes that women are being employed in post communist Eastern Europe, it is mostly in the “light industries” such as health, education, and textiles (Howell, 169). These industries are often considered less central to the economy and wages are often lower in these sectors of the economy.


Gender, Politics, and the State, edited by Vicky Randall & georgina Waylan. London: Routledge,1998.

Jude Howell, “gender, Civil Society and the State,” 166-184

Kate Nash, “Beyond Liberalism? Feminist Theories of Democracy,” 45-57

Ursular Vogel, “The State and the making of gender: some historical legacies,” 29-44

Post Communist Transition

 Many articles I found linked the Balkans and all of the other post-Soviet countries as having similar “women’s issues.” Since they share a part in a Communism past that directed that women and men were equal “created a cultural and developmental legacy that differs in key respects from the Western democracies and countries in the developing world” (Matland & Montgomery, 19). After the fall of communism, when “democracy” was beginning to take over Eastern Europe many things changed in the political system while transitioning, specifically with in women’s roles and rights. (While this may seem like a “duh” statement- they went from communism to democracy! of course things changed- bear with me.)

Women went from being considered equal by law to having their issues considered “tertiary issues that could be dealt with once the ‘real issues’ of transition had been resolved” (Matland & Montgomery, 39). In fact, most students of democratization have either over looked gender entirely or treated the decline i female representation as a return to ‘normal politics’ in the region” (Montgomery, 3). Yet, it is important to note that while legally  women and men were equal and there was no difference between the sexes, the stress remains on legally. In practice, the household remained the burden of the wife. While men were often advised to “help out more” their role within the family was never officially challenged. (Matland & Montgomery, 36) So this transition appeared on paper, could be argued that it was just changing to reflect the actual status of the family.

It is not to say that women were forced to give up all of their political power by the new regimes, sometimes women were “eager to shed their many burdens...voluntarily  withdrew from the public sphere” (Montgomery, 7). Matland & Montgomery go on to point out that at a practical level, women were promised greater access to Western goods and services if they retreated and allowed the government to transition ‘properly’ (38). However, when women lost their power, at least in Macedonia, they were not provoked due to their concern about the safety of their children and families than their own political representation (Ristova, 212).

It does not help matters that in many countries in Eastern Europe, “at least some voters believe men are better suited for politics than women and that men are more able executives and legislators” (Wilcox, Stark, & Thomas, 42). Further, many people believe in the traditional stereotype that women are “too moralistic to engage in the back-room dealmaking that often allows legislatures to reach compromise [nor are they] sufficiently rough to manage the rough and tumble world of politics” (Wilcox, Stark, & Thomas, 42). While I see a back-handed compliment in there, it is disastrous to the idea of women in politics (and politics in general) that women are too moral to be engaged in politics. {Maybe politics should be cleaned up so moral people can lead the country?}

In Macedonia, after the transition, the first 3 elections through 1998, only 3 to 7 % of the Parliament was filled with female representatives (Ristova, 196). All of the political parties in Macedonia declared their “dedication to gender equality” (Ristova, 203) during these elections. There was a difference between the elections and what was highlighted.

• 1990- women in the context of family relations
• 1994 & 1998 - covered a broader range of issues with gender relations and status of women
• improving women’s political representation, protection of employment rights, etc.

Women’s Access to Political Power in Post-Communist Europe, ed: Richard Matland & Kathleen Montgomery. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Richard Matland & Kathleen Montgomery, “Recruiting Women to National Legislatures: A General Framework with Applications to Post-Communist Democracies.”

Kathleen Montgomery, “Introduction”

Karolina Ristova, “Establishing a Machocracy: Women & Elections in Macedonia (1990-8)”

Clyde Wilcox, Beth Stark, & Sue Thomas, “Popular Support for Electing Women in Eastern Europe.”

USAID Gender Assesment on Macedonia

Almost all of the facts in this blog post come from one source. I know this is problematic, but was unable to find any other sources that specifically mention the status of women in Macedonia.


In fact, “according to the standard sociological approach, the process of social regulation of sexuality is anchored in social institutions-religion, family, and secular institutions, such as school, law, and medicine- that produce and/or reproduce ideologies and norms, which define social expectations” (Stulhofer, 5). In Macedonia, social expectation is low for any change in the status of women or ethnic minorities. People will often say that Macedonia is relatively egalitarian, but “will admit that gender stereotypes and values are quite patriarchal especially in rural areas and among ethnic minority groups” (USAID Report, 5).

To make matters worse in Macedonia, “the media is seen as promoting traditional gender stereotypes and as being uninterested in women’s issues” (USAID Report, 5). They often portray women in a sexist or degrading manner though “relevant laws prohibit media from broadcasting programs that could create gender intolerance ot that contain pornography or excessive violence” (USAID, 20). Without the media to bring light to some of the important issues, they may never become part of the discussion in the general populous or then in Parliament. In addition, the “school curricula promotes traditional gender stereotypes” (USAID, 5). If the children are taught to expect nothing better than the traditional gender roles or life, then the struggle will be lost to create a more equal society where all members can choose to do what they want in society. If young girls are taught that the only thing they are good for is cleaning houses and making babies, then those who want a career will feel left out of society and that something is wrong with them.

These teachings and lack of media attention have concrete results. In the region (the Balkans) Macedonia has the third highest pay gap between men and women (USAID, 5). A large percentage of Macedonians also live below the poverty line and the highest risk groups are “single mothers, children outside of parental care, the elderly, people with disabilities and the Roma” (USAID, 13). While impoverished citizens are entitled to some forms of social aid (e.x: with food or medical care), a recent budget analysis that focused on the differences between gender by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (MoSLP) found that women were far less likely to access this assistance than men. In addition, the MoSLP reported being “perplexed by this finding and speculated that women may not be accessing this assistance because of the insensitivities on the part of the staff and time burdens associated with applying for assistance of women’s reluctance to come forward to claim the assistance to which they are entitled” (USAID, 13). The current ruling party is seen as “socially conservative, antagonistic towards gender equality, promoting patriarchal views of women’s roles, and was described as suppressing independent actions by both Parliament and civil society” (USAID, 11).

All of these negative “on the ground” style reports are countered by the following legal frameworks relative to gender: (USAID, 14)

• “the constitution guarantees equality of all citizens regardless of gender, race, political or religious beliefs, or other socio-demographic characteristics.”
• “The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adapted in 1979 and took effect in 1971.”
• The law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men was adopted in 2006. This law established basic and special measures for insuring equal opportunities for women and men, lays out the responsibilities of various central and local government entities for insuring equal opportunities, and describes the procedures for determining when unequal treatment has occurred and how the government should process these cases.”

Many of the people interviewed were pessimistic about the future situation of women in Macedonia and with these statistics it is hard not to be. However, there are many (on paper- even if they do not respond to emails or have a working website) women’s based NGOs in Macedonia that are working to end the inequality faced by women. While these NGOs may not be as strong as their neighboring countries (USAID 18) they are working towards ending gender based violence or discrimination.

2010 Gender Assessment, USAID/Macedonia by Catherine Cozzarelli.

Transitions and Gender

The next few articles that I looked at were about feminism and women’s rights in the transitioning cultures of Eastern Europe/the Balkans. Part of this transition includes the creation of a national myth of heritage. In most of these myths women were to play a crucial role in the extreme nationalism that was helpful to the disintegration of both Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The build up of one nationality often focused on women ‘doing what nature intended and having babies’! Dasa Duhacek believes that the state uses gender or women in at least three different ways:

1. changing abortion laws as a way of nation building: In communist times there was a relaxed abortion policy  allowing women to receive aborts with fewer questions. It was also not looked down upon or thought of as a serious problem. However, newer nations would often change their abortion policy so that it became harder for women to access these services. Some politicians even stated that it was to help bring up the birthrate of the population so that they could have more ethnic citizens. Some states, it has been accused, went a step further and made it more difficult in general and then made it easier for the “wrong” ethnicity to access abortion services.
2. reproduction as a function of nation and motherhood: This idea is that if you do not have children and many of them you are trying to kill the state (and ethnicity). Thus women should not work so they can focus on creating new life and blood for the country. Women were seen as the caretakers of the young and thus the nation. They did this by influencing the young children’s thought towards the correct (state and party) line. When you had children you were helping to support the nation by giving it many more new citizens.
3. rape as a way of politics:This is sadly the easiest to explain. Rape was used not only as a means of war and a weapon in the Balkan conflicts, but also after the war when they were setting up their societies. Rape was not fully decriminalized, but not punished as harshly as before. Women faced the same pressures in these areas as they did else where: if you dress like a slut, then obviously you were asking to get raped. (For a modern take on these comments see: Wikipedia on Slut Walk for the links and a quick summary)

In socialist/communist times (Yugoslavia was a communist state, but not connected with the USSR. They had more political freedom than the USSR and access to western goods.) there was an official “equality paradigm,” where you were not to consider gender. Officially the people were genderless (except for when it came to maternity leave and women working less ‘safe’ jobs where they were given laxer treatment). The new ideology of the state (usually based in a western-conservative ideology of religion) was “crucially based on the strategy of retraditionalization of women’s identities, their social roles and symbolic representations” (Papic, 122). Yet it is not correct to expect the state to willingly give up these gendered roles that it helped to create when it serves the government well in their nationalist rhetoric as well as their own personal beliefs. Institutions were built upon these hierarchies and their inherent inequality (Ivekovic, 57). To change these views meant that institutions would have to be changed, and this would harm whoever was currently in power at the time, thus no one was willing to do so, and they remain unwilling.




Zarana Papic, “Women in Serbia: Post-Communism, War & Nationalist Mutations,” in Gender & identity: Theories from &/or on South East Europe, ed by Jelisaveta Blagojevic, Katerina Kolozova, Svetlana Slapsak. (Belgrade Women’s Studies & Gender Research/Athena, 2006).

Dasa Duhacek, “Gender Perspective on Political Identies in Yugoslavia,” in Gender & identity: Theories from &/or on South East Europe, ed by Jelisaveta Blagojevic, Katerina Kolozova, Svetlana Slapsa, 297-319. (Belgrade Women’s Studies & Gender Research/Athena, 2006).

Gender vs. Sex Beginings...

Now that I have decided to “summarize” these books I have been reading and I look towards what yesterday appeared to be a very small amount of research, I feel overwhelmed. Do I just provide you with quotes? Do I provide you with my reactions to said quotes? Do I try to integrate these quotes into a paper? (What do I write the paper on? Have you ever tried to write a paper without a prompt? Let me tell you that it is hard.)

 
So here’s to trying to figure something out!

Jelisaveta Blagojevic argues that notions of gender are understood in a way that cross other differences (such as race or class) (Blagojevic, 11). Due to the fact that gender crosses so many different boundaries, Blagojevic continues her argument by stating that to classify gender into one discipline, such as women’s studies, is false. Besides the fact that gender crosses many boundaries, “gender” is also a dynamic concept and the ideas are constantly changing. Rada Ivekovis supports Blagovevic by stating that “the sex or gender dimension is…a social, economic, political, [and] symbolic order which means that is it a hierarchically constructed” (Ivekovis, 43). Since the notion of gender is both a social notion and a political argument, Ivekovis argues that by those definitions it is hierarchically constructed, with the male gender above the female gender (or any other gender that may exist). The differences between the sexes (of male and female) was the first “globally accepted [order] in a patriarchal regime [that was] subsequently made into a complicit instrument for the maintenance of all other known hierarchies and orders” (Ivekovis, 46).**

It is also important to note, and often forgotten or just not noticed, that ‘sex’ or ‘gender’ or anything really is “accessible to us only through culture, as already mediated, and thus as already gendered” (Ivekovis, 45). Culture is already gendered, or often becomes gendered as we consume it though advertising or walking down a street. A question can be raised where do we draw the line (further, DO we need to draw a line?) between biological sex (such as in the DNA) and social gender? Ivekois argues that the line is not important, but what is important is to acknowledge the differences between the definitions and their possible applications. If we draw the line socially between biological sexes, what do we (society) do with people who so strongly identify with the gender that not match their biological sex? Where are they to fit into our social discourse? Where are they to go to the bathroom? Which side would they be on when we split into boys vs. girls in the playground? Most often they are forced to join in with their biological commonly accepted sex of male or female (in the western world), no matter the emotional or psychological consequences. If we draw the line based on what these individuals choose to  identify themselves as we (as society) would have to address all of the above issues as well as many more. Why do we delineate the roughly 6.97 billion people into only two categories? What happens with the established hierarchy between male and female if we acknowledge that gender/sex is not predetermined by random happenstance in the reproductive cycle?

The world would have to change. And that scares many people.

*In fact it could be noted that all examples of identity in fact cross all other boundaries and to specify that one form of your identity cross any other more so than the other form is far to simplistic an outlook on a complex issue.

**I acknowledge that this is a western feminist perspective and is not seen in many other cultures as the basis of society or even other hierarchies. While this particular subject is far to vast for me to cover at this time and in this research, I wish to acknowledge that I recognize the problems with this quote and others like it.

Jelisaveta Blagojevic, “Introduction,” in Gender & identity: Theories from &/or on South East Europe, ed by Jelisaveta Blagojevic, Katerina Kolozova, Svetlana Slapsak. (Belgrade Women’s Studies & Gender Research/Athena, 2006).

Rada Ivekovic, “The Fiction of Gender Constructing the Fiction of Nation: On How Fictions are Normative and Norms Produce Exceptions,” in Gender & identity: Theories from &/or on South East Europe, ed by Jelisaveta Blagojevic, Katerina Kolozova, Svetlana Slapsak, 43-65. (Belgrade Women’s Studies & Gender Research/Athena, 2006).

Fulbright Statement of Grant Purpose

Once again, directly copy and pasted from my application:

Ethnic strife is usually the hot topic of the Balkans, but what about gender? The problems of gender cut across all ethnic boundaries to affect every person in Macedonia. I want to study gender there because it is one of the only social issues that literally affects every citizen in the country. There are many ethnic based nongovernmental organizations (NGO) but only a few gender based NGOs- yet they are crucial to the equal access of women to government services. Civil society is comprised of the volunteer-based organizations that help provide the basis of a functioning society. Civil society and government often work hand-in-hand to provide for the citizens of their country. Sometimes this work, while vital to the success of the government, might not be completed due to bureaucratic hurdles or focused blocking by officials against people’s rights. At other times, one part of a country’s civil society will be treated along a hierarchy of more access to less access or funding. In Macedonia, I will be taking courses at the Euro Balkan Institute, such as Pop Culture and Gender or Modern Balkan History, and volunteering at a local NGO. Dean Kolozova has stated that the Euro Balkan Institute will provide me with contacts in the local NGOs.

I plan to use my time in Macedonia as preliminary research for my future graduate studies, possibly at the Euro Balkan Institute. I will be taking courses that will provide me with a foundation of knowledge that allows me to complete in depth research. The courses at Euro Balkan will supplement my experiences with the NGOS and allow me to gain the background needed. I want to address many different questions including: How can people change the society that they live in? What access do they have to the government or to the people? How does the ideal of volunteerism affect the way that Macedonian civil society works? How does a society change from 2001, when Freedom House stated that “volunteerism [is an] alien concept in Macedonia,” to an entire section in their 2009 report that stated that NGOs were receiving competitive funding from the European Union (EU)? A NGOs ability to help the community it is working in is dependent upon their ability to receive funding which is connected to the access they have to funding sources, such as the government of Macedonia or the EU. Through funding, NGOs and other members of the civil society will be able to reach out to the community and to do more to help the people who live there, be it through interaction with a reluctant government (Freedom House 2009) or through raising awareness of important issues in the community. In Macedonia, they might focus on people-to-people contact to help solve ethnic problems. My research will attempt to see how the government works with civil society. It will provide information about how NGOs can reach out to the government and how the government could reach out to NGOs. My study will either re-affirm existing action plans to access government services or foreign aid or suggest new avenues. It will also address new ways of working in closer connection with the government to better serve the people of Macedonia. Since an NGO’s ability to access the government can be seen as a litmus test for how democratic that government is, observing their access will provide information about how to contact the government for the people of Macedonia. There are times when civil society, NGOs in particular, acts as a mouthpiece for the general population, bringing pressing problems to the government’s attention. My project is only able to be completed in country as it is critical that I observe the daily interpersonal interactions between government officials, NGO members, and the communities in which they work. In addition, I will have access to local libraries, such as the one at Euro Balkan or other universities in Skopje, research and professors that are only in Macedonia. In addition, I need to observe the workings of the Macedonian government in progress during the present day, not just through a series of articles. Being in country will give me access to primary sources verses the secondary sources that I currently have access to, which are subject to the authors own interpretation.

            I will be completing research in the participant-observer framework. The participant observer framework is a type of in-depth study where a researcher will not only observe the actions of a group but will also participate within the group. Following the participant-observer research style will allow me to be both an impartial observer and an active helpful member of a local organization throughout the year. The interaction will involve me with my host community in an intimate way, allowing me close communication with a wide range of Macedonians that I would not otherwise receive if I just stayed within the ivory towers of academia. It allows me privileged access to see how they view their own lives and their interactions with the government. My volunteer work will show them a commitment to help my host country in the best way I can through my dedication of time and labor. My end goal is to produce a 15-25 page research paper that will provide the background for more in-depth research studies in the future. I am choosing to base myself in Skopje because the Euro Balkan Institute, which provides critical research in the area of contemporary politics and gender in the Balkans, has offered to provide me with affiliation. The Euro Balkan Institute has a postgraduate program in Gender Studies as well as Contemporary Political Thought, and by basing myself at this institution, I will be able to combine the resources of this institute with my personal studies, which will provide me with a steady foundation. In addition, being located in the capital will allow me greater access to the government of Macedonia, including its public officials and some of the most actively dedicated members of society trying to reach the government. I believe that observing the civil society located in the capital will give me the best results for my study, since it theoretically will have closer interaction with the government.

By the beginning of the Fulbright Award year, I will have completed my Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies with a minor in History. As part of the degree requirements, I will have finished an Introduction to Women’s Studies course, numerous political science and anthropological courses, and have completed a thesis. My thesis will focus on the admission process that Macedonia has to go through to be admitted to the EU and what that says about the EU’s larger foreign policy goals. In addition, I will consider the impact enlargement has on Macedonia. This will allow me to gain a more intimate knowledge about the country and the region than I previously have, since I have never taken any courses that have had a focus on the Balkans or had a course considered them in more than just a passing fashion. I also plan, as part of my thesis and other papers throughout this year, to gain knowledge of the history of Macedonia and the Balkans, which will allow me to understand the historical significance of the modern governmental interactions with their constituents and prepare me for my research in Macedonia. I will be well versed in the culture of Macedonia by my arrival in country in the fall of 2011. I also will be at a beginner to intermediate level in Macedonian language. Studying gendered politics in Macedonia will provide insight into a complicated area with little available research in the US that has far-reaching consequences for every person not only in Macedonia but for also every country in the world.

Fulbright Personal Statement

This is directly copy and pasted from my application:

            When I was 15, I volunteered at a city dump in Porto Velho, Brazil where people lived and raised their families. I had never seen such poverty in one location, and never have since. It was eye opening and shocking experience that jarred me from my safe, assumed perfect world. I began to consider the multitude of problems that others faced. I learned that there was so much that I did not know about other cultures and that they did not know about the US. This consideration and surprise is part of what lead me to study international relations in college. From an early age I was interested in politics and why the world is the way it is. I always questioned my mom and other adults about things that I thought never made sense. Like why did all the moms on TV stay home all day while my single mother was always working? This confusion contributed to my desire to study politics in college. As I progressed through college, I became more interested in gender and how it affects the political system. When given a chance I wrote about women and politics to further my knowledge. I knew I wanted to focus in on women in the international arena when completing graduate research.

I discovered my career goal of working for the State Department ever since I discovered exactly what it is the State Department does. As I matured and expanded my boundaries, the career track I wanted changed, but I have never wavered on wanting to join the State Department. I want to become a Foreign Service Officer with a track in public Diplomacy or Consular work. I want to help brighten the image of America abroad. I believe that the only way to do this is to interact on a daily basis with the people of the country I am working in. I have had the opportunity to do exactly this in both Brazil and Russia. I hope to continue to do so when I live and study in Skopje, Macedonia under the auspices of a Fulbright Fellowship during the 2011-2012 academic year.

As I started college, there was no doubt in my mind I would study abroad as part of my desire to see international relations in action. I was able to achieve one of my life goals in my second year at college when I completed a semester study abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was purely exhilarating to see another culture in such depth, to live, breathe and be a part of it. One day, early in the semester, I was wandering around downtown St. Petersburg, utterly lost, freezing cold, and unable to talk to anyone since I had only had three classes of Russian. I was having the time of my life. It was then, when I couldn’t stop smiling in the weather that I usually detested, that I knew that this, right here, this culture is what I wanted to study.  I fell in love with the city and the history of Russia. I suddenly knew that my life was going in the right direction and that I wanted to study this culture and others like it. I needed to know more about the world that I lived in, especially the former Soviet Union. Upon my return on the US, I started taking more courses on Russia and Eastern Europe, which only solidified my desire to work for the State Department later in life, after getting an advanced degree.

When thinking about my future after undergrad, I knew that I wanted to complete graduate level research on civil society in Eastern Europe before undertaking a US master’s program in diplomacy. I had always known about Fulbright and tried to emulate the philosophy and ideals behind the program. I became interested in Macedonia when learning about Eastern Europe; the Balkans were largely ignored. They were never part of the curriculum. I knew that I wanted to delve deeper into the Balkans and write my thesis about them. I tried to check books over the summer to learn more about this area, the region that created the political science term “balkanization,” but there was literally only one book about the region at my local library. When I looked further for a book specific to Macedonia there were none. This only sparked my interest more, only made me want to study this culture more. Going to Macedonia to study gender and government will tie all of my interests of improving the world around me together; it will link my past studies and my future career.

First Steps Towards Knowledge

As a Fulbright Student Researcher, I am affiliated with a local group or school as part of the rules of the grant. My affiliation in Skopje is with the Euro-Balkan Institute (I would link you to their website, but I can no longer access it as my virus soft-wear logs malicious attacks every time I attempt to access it, so I won’t link you to it so your computer doesn’t have any problems either).  They study gender, politics, the Balkans, history but only in postgraduate studies. I contacted one of their professors who had received a grant to teach in the US, Katerina Kolozova, who agreed to offer me affiliation with her Institute. They promised me many great NGO contacts, a computer, and office space! What they didn’t tell me was the wonderful library that they had that I could use!

I began soon after meeting with them to use their library and looking at a few of their really cool books. Unfortunately, you cannot take any of them out. So I just have to go there and spend hours just sitting in a library (in un-comfy chairs, by the way) and read the books. So, on this blog I will begin by summarizing some of it. I looked at many different books while at the Institute and will being to summarize them on here. In addition I will place information up about my individual meetings with NGOs (non-governmental organizations, in case you didn’t know).

To show you exactly what I will be researching, and in the spirit of open research, I will post my Personal Statement as well as my Statement of Purpose from my Fulbright Application. That way you can get a better understanding of what I will be attempting to research here.

Change of Plans

Originally I had planned on working towards getting a paper published on my work in Macedonia on women's NGOs and their access to the government. 

But like any good research plans change and so have mine. Instead of specifically working towards publishing a paper or condensing all of my research and contacts over this 9 months to a single paper, I will be blogging about my research here- on my website. 

In addition to the type of research changing, my content is changing as well. I have been here a month in Skopje and have almost no research to show for it. It has been next to impossible to reach the NGOs here. Even if they receive my email they do not respond until I call and ask if they got it. It just took a bit to figure out how to contact people here (if you have an email you should check it or not list it, ditto with the websites)- by calling only. 

I hope to show some insight into my research and NGOs in particular on this blog. I will take any constructive feedback as well as comments or help in research offered.