Why have Western donors' efforts to encourage development of
Russian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) varied dramatically in two
different NGO sectors, despite similar levels of assistance? I forward a
norms-based explanation for varying success in bolstering the Russian
women's and soldiers' rights movements. Where foreign assistance
is employed to promote norms that are universally embraced, it is highly
likely to lead to a successful NGO movement. In contrast, when foreign
assistance pursues norms that are specific to other societal contexts, it
will fail to develop an NGO movement, regardless of the amount of funding
foreign donors devote. NGOs and foreign donors have succeeded by
articulating a universal norm against physical harm in the cases of
soldiers' rights and domestic violence, but have failed by voicing
specifically Western norms of gender equality and feminism in the case of
women's rights.I wish to thank
Kathleen Collins, Elisabeth Friedman, Kathryn Hochstetler, David Holloway,
Stephen Krasner, Gail Lapidus, Michael McFaul, and especially Richard
Price, Lisa Martin, and two anonymous reviewers for their close readings
and comments on versions of this article. Thanks also to Kimberly Swanzey
for excellent research assistance and the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada for financial support of the
research.