Introduction

In recent years, Russians have been observing increasing levels of homelessness, especially in the big cities. Of course, homelessness was bound to be more readily identified, once people were allowed to recognise social and economic problems that had previously been studiously ignored. But there seemed also to be more to notice. Changes in the economy seemed to be taking their toll, especially on pensioners and others with fixed incomes, on the young and disabled people, and on those at the margins of society. At the same time the Russian population was becoming more mobile as restraints on travel were lifted and people moved in search of economic opportunity. Simultaneously, the country was absorbing waves of refugees from conflict-torn parts of the former Soviet Union. Not all these new arrivals had places to live, especially in cities where, even before privatisation, housing supply was insufficient to meet demand.

The end of the nuclear confrontation, the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia's first faltering steps towards democracy. These are all events of the not too distant past. It is not surprising that for a country which has no tradition of democracy, such a large territory, and a persistent memory of imperial glory, Russia is finding it hard to make the transition to what Mikhail Gorbachev called the civilised world. In the 13 years since Perestroyka began and the seven years since communism and the Soviet Union disappeared, the Russian government has so far failed to complete the path of political evolution which took the countries of Western Europe several centuries to traverse. Outsiders – and many Russians – notice the ragged economic reform, the corruption and high levels of crime, and the suffering of the people inflicted by the collapse of the primitive, but reliable, social security network which the Communists provided. On the other hand, few weigh the other side of the scale: the seven democratic elections conducted in difficult circumstances with a minimum of fraud; the emergence of a whole new generation of young, energetic and highly qualified professionals; the openness of the country to new ideas, freedom to travel, the rapid growth of the social work industry. All the aforementioned form the basis of the creation of the civil society. In a country whose autocratic traditions go back a thousand years, these are remarkable achievements.