Galindabaeva, Vera, PhD Student

By bjorn on 17 Jun | 0 comments

Biographical note
MA in Sociology at the European University, St Petersburg (Russia)

Academic interests
Gender studies (Russian gender), Social policy, Ethnic and Nationalism studies

Major publications:
“Institutional Isomorphism and Its Role on Childcare Service Market”, in press in the November issue of the journal of Economical Sociology, Moscow
“Paid Childcare Service: Love of Children as a Profession (an example of Buryatia)” in press: collection of EUSP –student’s articles within the project “Gender aspect of every day live in Russia”, European University at SPb, Gender Center (St Petersburg), Ford Foundation
“Sometimes I’m Russian, Sometimes I’m Buryat: Strategies of Métis Identity Construction among the Youth of Republic Buryatia” in “Modern Youth Communities in Culture and Policy” (2008) edited by V.V. Kostjushev:  collected articles by participants of the Student essay contest “Galatea” titled “‘Modern youth communities in culture and policy” – Museum of G. Starovoitova, Saint Petersburg.

Abstract
The focus of my research is on changes of care arrangements in Buryat and Russian rural families in post-soviet Russia. In post-soviet times the representations of normative gender roles (a man as a breadwinner, a woman as a care worker) are challenged by a new form of gender division of public labor. The collapse of the agriculture sector caused changes of the rural employment structure: the majority of male population became unemployed.  Women being traditionally employed in public sector (schools, hospitals, local authorities) became the only breadwinner in rural families. So, the main research question is: Do women try to distribute home duties equally or they transfer it to husbands’ inverting gender roles? 

Project Description
The focus of my research is on changes of care arrangements in Buryat  and Russian rural families in post-soviet Russia. Due to the social and economic impact of the liberal reforms the family care about children has changed. As Zdravomyslova, Temkina (2007) and Rotkirch (2004) noted soviet women were full-time employed workers, but at the same time were responsible for care about family dependents. The balance of full-time employment and unpaid care work was supported partly by the state-sponsored child-care centers and by informal networks (relatives and friends).

In the 1990s public policy considerably influenced the family care arrangements in few ways. Firstly, because of the fact that state officials turned down full provision of the child-care centers parents had to cover a part of the care-center service. Unfortunately, poor rural families did not have the opportunity to pay for the service of childcare center. Secondly, it was  expected that the centers would provide care for children aged from 0 to 6 years. In fact children could attend centers beginning from one and a half year age, because the paid leaving vacation for mothers is given for this period. If mother plans to return to labour market while her child was younger than one and half she had to make the arrangements with informal caregivers.

The representations of normative gender roles (a man as a breadwinner, a woman as a care worker) are challenged by a new form of gender division of public labor. Since the agriculture sector collapsed the rural employment structure has shifted. The collapse of the agriculture sector caused changes of the rural employment structure: the majority of male population became unemployed. Women being traditionally employed in public sector (schools, hospitals, local authorities) became the only breadwinner in rural families. Under such conditions, the unpaid house work, including a childcare, appears to be the key issue of negotiations between women and men.

In this research I aim to show how rural women cope with constrains caused by institutional care deficit. The main research question is: Do women try to distribute home duties equally or they transfer it to husbands’ inverting gender roles?
While gender is influencing house duties distribution, ethnicity plays the central role in organizing the care work. That is why my research examines childcare arrangements among Russian and Buryat families, allocated in Republic Buryatia RF. According to my fieldwork results living (child care) experience of Buryat women differs from that of Russian.

I have already gathered 20 interviews with Buryat women who live in two Buryat rural settlements: Khilgana, Barguzin region of republic Buryatia, and Ulyunkhan, Kurumkan region RB. This summer I plan to continue my fieldwork and interview Russian women, who live in Udinsk village Chorinskii region.

References
Rotkirch A. (2004). 'Coming to stand on firm ground.' The Making of a Soviet Working Mother. On living through Soviet Russia. Edited by Daniel Bertaux Paul Thompson and Anna Rotkirch. London, Routledge: 144-174.

Zdravomyslova, Elena, Temkna, Anna (2007) Russian Order of Gender: Sociological Appoach. St Petersburg: EU SPb. (in Russian).