Short-Term Travel Grants Program Research Report

Transcription

1 Short-Term Travel Grants Program Research Report The opinions, recommendations, and conclusions of the grantee are his/her own and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IREX or the US Department of State. Leontina M. Hormel Assistant Professor Department of Sociology University of Idaho STG Ukraine A Comparative Analysis of Gender, Labor, and Export-Oriented Business in Two Ukrainian Towns Topic of Research The month-long research visit to Ukraine this summer set groundwork toward a long-term collaborative project led by Professor Leontina Hormel (University of Idaho) and Professor Caleb Southworth (University of Oregon). The research builds upon an already existing case study project with Komsomolsk, Ukraine, that examined social conditions as well as gender and labor market behavior in 2002 (Hormel and Southworth 2006; Hormel 2004; Southworth and Hormel 2003). The proposed research seeks to examine, through a comparative analysis of two central Ukrainian cities located along the Dnieper River approximately 40 kilometers apart: Komsomolsk in Poltava Oblast and Svetlovodsk in Kirovograd Oblast. The cities are similar in terms of proximity, age (founded within 4 years of each other), and size (populations of about 51,000 residents 1 ). The small cities have metal production enterprises Poltava GOK in Komsomolsk refines iron ore for export and Pure Metal and the State Hard Alloys Factory in Svetlovodsk produce alloys and semi-conductor metals. Both towns have textile firms and other light industry (furniture and glass) that date from the Soviet period. There are a couple differences worth noting, however. One difference is that Svetlovodsk has a greater number of large employers, which differs from Komsomolsk, a city dominated by the large iron ore enterprise Poltava GOK. The other difference between the cities is that Komsomolsk appears to be successful with investment and advice from US-Ukraine/USAID and the federal Ukrainian government, while Svetlovodsk has not been terribly successful. In fact, this latter fact interfered with the course of the preliminary research steps proposed to IREX earlier this year (more of which will be discussed later). Through a research design examining two similar cities that have different experiences with international development projects, the questions surrounding how effective foreign assistance is in the development of gender equity, responsive labor markets, and the creation of export-oriented enterprises can be tested. Our research asks, 1 According to the 2002 Ukraine Census, Komsomolsk comprised 51,740 residents and Svetlovodsk comprised 50,094 residents.

2 What is the relationship between the presence of expert advice and external investment in municipal infrastructure and the development of export-oriented textile firms in these two Ukrainian towns? To what degree is the expert advice and external investment in municipal infrastructure enhancing the opportunities for both women and men to participate in the market economy? Relevance and Contribution to the Field The pilot research conducted this summer is productive in establishing connections and setting groundwork toward a large, comparative study of these two cities. The larger study will gauge the degree to which international assistance enhances the ability for small urban areas to adjust to political and economic changes and the degree to which advances are felt equally for women and men as they navigate labor markets under these circumstances. If development organizations have been successful in softening the impacts of work insecurity for vulnerable groups like women, what can we take from these successful experiences to other cities, like Svetlovodsk, which have not had the same level of attention and organization, technically and financially? Equally important are lessons we may draw from Svetlovodsk, which may highlight successes as a result of local problem solving. Most relevant to the summer research project is observing the impact national level politics has on municipal level governance and organization. If advisors and organizations wish to gauge the degree to which cities are autonomous from the workings of federal government in Ukraine, then the interviews and experiences characterizing this research trip are especially insightful. Research Methodology Three forms of data were collected during this month-long visit to Ukraine: expert interviews, video and photo documentation, and secondary data. The research questions guiding the interviews seek to understand how foreign assistance is related to the development of export-oriented industry (with an emphasis on textiles) and how assumptions surrounding gender may underlie this relationship. To examine these central themes in the larger project, information must be gathered from entrepreneurs and employees in small- and mid-size firms (firms that have failed as well as those that have succeeded) over the transition period. Selection of participants will need to be sensitive to gender representation, attempting to obtain equal representation among men and women when possible. In this way, a comparison of firm success and gender will be built in to the larger study alongside the comparison between the two towns. To draw a sample, firms will be selected from a list of all small- and mid-size firms registered in the year Part of the pilot study s endeavors was to obtain such a list from the cities of Komsomolsk and Svetlovodsk. A list from 2000 ensures that successful and failed firms will be included so we can assess the reasons for these diverging outcomes (for instance, government regulations, pressures of competition, or the effects of foreign aid and advice). Given the above goals for conducting surveys and in-depth interviews in the future, the funded research for this summer was geared toward establishing formal working relations with each city, obtaining lists of registered firms in 2000 from each city, and conducting interviews with city experts and employers. Research Findings and Preliminary Conclusions The current political climate in Ukraine and its effects on this summer s research The timing of this summer s research trip presented particular difficulties in accomplishing all tasks proposed in the original STG research proposal. Below, I list a number of political dynamics that complicated and slowed down the timeline Dr. Caleb Southworth and I originally conceived for this summer s pilot study. 1) Komsomolsk Mayor Alexander Pavlovich Popov resigned his position, accepting an invitation from Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych to serve as a minister in Kiev. As a result, the

3 formal agreement we signed in May 2006 was considered null and void. Before proceeding with in-depth interviews in Komsomolsk, a new formal agreement needed to be signed with the new city mayor, Sergei Andreevich Suprun. 2) In early spring 2007, the deputy council in Svetlovodsk voted to remove the city mayor from office. Since successfully removing the mayor, no mayoral elections have been held to vote on his replacement. Thus, during my month-long visit to Ukraine, the city had no central authority with whom to sign a formal agreement. Such an agreement is necessary for ethical research to be conducted and to receive the necessary logistical support for such a research project in Svetlovodsk. Since there is no research center (such as a university) in the area, using an alternative to formal support through the mayor was impossible. Until a new mayor is elected, obtaining a signed formal agreement is not feasible. Until a signed formal agreement is obtained, preliminary work for a sampling frame, pilot surveys and interviews cannot be done. 3) Ukraine s parliament is currently not functioning and will not be back to work until after a snap election takes place (currently scheduled for Sunday, September 30, 2007), which will decide the degree of power granted each political faction in parliament. Part of what I learned during this impasse is the degree to which municipal governments are affected in their day-to-day functions. According to one expert interviewed, a Ukrainian consultant with the USAID LED program, there is a sense that rule of law is currently absent and municipal governments conduct themselves as though this impasse is also a local one. According to this interview participant, my experience with Svetlovodsk (the fact there is no central authority with whom to sign an agreement and to obtain city support) could currently happen with many cities. Very little is being accomplished country wide in the governance structure. She claims that cities like Svetlovodsk will likely be ready to elect a mayor only once the parliamentary snap elections are held. The national elections will reflect the direction to which power will shift, both in Ukraine s parliament and throughout the different layers of the governance structures in the country. This, at least, is the general view among those working with municipal administrations. The above dynamics meant that my proposed research goals were partially accomplished in this trip. Research tasks accomplished and findings I obtained a signed formal agreement with the current city mayor, Sergei Andreevich Suprun (see attached). This agreement extends to the year City staff agreed to assist in this project and several administrators are in communication with me in setting the proper groundwork before conducting the fieldwork for the larger project. I have also obtained a list of registered small- and mid-size textile firms in Komsomolsk for conducting a scientific random sampling. (No such work was possible to conduct in Svetlovodsk, with the exception of one expert interview with Iryna Vitalevna Kovra who served as the mayor s first deputy in Svetlovodsk, July 2006 to January 2007.) The preliminary findings below are based on ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews that took place with experts and residents. Negotiations with Komsomolsk Mayor Sergei Andreevich Suprun took two weeks to complete. Over the course of two weeks, I worked with city staff to partially construct a survey questionnaire addressing contemporary issues of great concern to the city and its administration. It was necessary to provide the mayor with an example of how continuing the sociological project from 2002 would benefit the city concretely. Mayor Suprun s predecessor had largely been concerned with Komsomolsk residents social and economic conditions; whereas, contemporary concerns have now expanded to consider infrastructural conditions (housing, utility services, roadway conditions, and beautification projects). This partly reflects the mayor s personal interests in reshaping the way housing is managed in the city, but also reflects the ongoing housing shortage in Komsomolsk a problem that remains unsolved for most urban areas in Ukraine. The city staff with whom I worked were, themselves, most interested in obtaining longitudinal data to compare

4 how much livelihoods have changed (and in what direction) between 2002 and now (a realistic target date for the survey is summer 2009). The political battles between pro-west and pro-russian political factions have affected the material conditions for both textile firms and the iron-ore mine, Poltava GOK. A large number of small- and mid-size firms have had to close and the mining enterprise is anticipating another wave of layoffs (500-1,000 workers projected for this coming year out of 10,000). Whereas, only a year ago, residents placed a great deal of hope on President Yushchenko s abilities to modernize and stabilize the country s economy and politics, now many people share a general cynicism about all the federal politicians. All politicians are believed to be looking out only for their own power and for the gains of a few big enterprises. During the 2004 elections, a majority of Komsomolsk residents voted for Viktor Yanukovych because of his pro-russia platform. A large number of residents, though, supported Yushchenko because he was believed to represent a radical departure from the Soviet model of leadership that Yanukovych symbolized. The effect of ongoing political battles at the federal level and the parliamentary freeze beginning in the spring have developed a shared cynicism among Komsomolsk residents and entrepreneurs. In Komsomolsk, this reinforces support for Yanukovych because residents (especially small- and mid-size business entrepreneurs) see more concrete benefits to maintaining close economic and political ties to Russia. Many people in central Ukraine have close friends and relatives who live across the border in Russia, thus, alienating Russia could mean borders will become more difficult to cross. Border issues with Russia are also serious for textile firms since stricter border controls and tariffs will remove a major trade route for them. The past year ( ) has hit families and businesses especially hard in this respect and with respect to the sharp rise in energy prices Russia imposed. Interestingly, the Komsomolsk municipal government has not been affected nearly as badly as Svetlovodsk (and presumably other cities) by the parliamentary freeze. Although the city recently lost Mayor Popov to the federal government, Mayor Suprun has rather gracefully begun his responsibilities. The contrasting experiences between these two cities confirmed how valuable it would be to compare and contrast their development experiences. Most interviews I conducted during this trip did not directly address issues of gender equity, as this will be more scientifically assessed once a random sampling of survey respondents and interviewees can be drawn in the larger project. However, political instability especially between Ukraine and Russia have made it more difficult for textile firms to continue business as usual than it has for enterprises in the heavy industries, such as Poltava GOK. Moscow, Nizhni Novgorod, and Ekaterinburgh have been important trade locations for garments produced in Ukraine, but access to these markets has been greatly diminished since Yushchenko s service as President. Poltava GOK has been more greatly affected by technology changes, as increased efficiency has deemed some jobs redundant in the enterprise. Its trade capacity is not diminished, as it is with textile firms, but nonetheless its labor force is shrinking. This does not bode well for both men and women workers, especially in a city with few employment alternatives. Exacerbating the situation is workers limited mobility directly resulting from country-wide housing shortages. In addition to the pilot research conducted in Komsomolsk, I also began video documentation of various development themes across Ukraine. One expert in Komsomolsk agreed to have part of her interview taped on video. I did not obtain any consent to be videotaped from entrepreneurs, so no footage exists of interviews from entrepreneurial and worker perspectives. Most video and photographic footage captures contemporary political, social and environmental conditions in Ukraine and will be included in a future documentary regarding economic development in Ukraine. Suggestions for Future Research Because it was not viable to set up the necessary groundwork for conducting research in Svetlovodsk this summer, I must return to Ukraine for this explicit purpose. At this point, I plan to conduct pilot work in Svetlovodsk in March 2007 over the course of ten days. This should allow enough time for the parliamentary elections to take place and for mayoral elections to be completed in the city. However, as

5 mentioned earlier, it will not be productive to go to Svetlovodsk until there is a central authority with whom to work. Professional acquaintances working for USAID in Ukraine are also investigating alternative cities for comparison. Besides specific steps necessary for this particular research project, other research may attempt to look at the role of centralized authority in municipal planning. Interviews in Komsomolsk suggest that Komsomolsk has relatively smoothly negotiated its path of social and economic transition in Ukraine because of the dominant role Poltava GOK (the largest employer in Komsomolsk) has played in Soviet and post-soviet municipal governance. This success and stability is most likely related, as well, to the attention Poltava GOK receives from the federal government. This line of inquiry is possible in the larger comparative project currently being prepared, but it is not central to our research questions. Policy Recommendations The above analysis provides evidence from specific local experience in a small city located in central Ukraine. According to interviews with municipal planning experts, central and western Ukraine have been most cooperative in decentralizing municipal governance and in developing strategies to work more independently from the federal government. Yet, despite these significant steps to loosen ties to federal decision-makers, it is clear that cities remain vulnerable to the country s political climate. This is likely not a surprising finding. What is interesting is that, 1) the presence of a dominant employer successful in gaining attention from the Ukrainian government seems to create a more stable urban governance system than in a city (such as, Svetlovodsk) with diffused authority, and 2) the seemingly pro-west leadership in Ukraine is having difficulty maintaining its legitimacy as a result of material difficulties felt by entrepreneurs and residents (more generally). Rather than experiencing greater access to trade, the consequence has been the constriction of market access. The two (tentative) findings from this month-long research trip suggest that policies should continue to encourage political stability. Stability, though, will be difficult to attain because Russia has a deep and strategic relationship for entrepreneurs seeking markets outside Ukraine and for Ukrainian citizens, generally. Not only is Russia capable of using these ties to its political advantage, but Ukrainian citizens (specifically those I interviewed in central Ukraine) rely on a close relationship with Russia to keep friendships and families together and to participate successfully in entrepreneurship. Thus, policies need to be sensitive to everyday Ukrainian perspectives when encouraging particular political and economic strategies for the country to follow. References Hormel, Leontina Gender and Informal Work Arrangements in Post-Soviet Komsomolsk, Ukraine. Dissertation manuscript. Hormel, Leontina and Caleb Southworth Eastward Bound: A case study of post-soviet labour migration from a rural Ukrainian town. Europe-Asia Studies. 58(4): Southworth, Caleb and Leontina Hormel Sociological Survey Report to Komsomolsk Municipal Government: July-September Unpublished manuscript.