Course detail

Civil Society and Urban Development

FA-CSU-ZEAcad. year: 2025/2026

This course is an advanced seminar on networks and infrastructures of urban civil society organizations and initiatives in Central and Eastern Europe, defined by their role in the processes of urban development, democratization of political processes and social emancipation potential. The course gives sociological knowledge and tools to analyze the existing structural and infrastructural context of urban NGOs, its effects on various actors in the field.

Language of instruction

English

Number of ECTS credits

3

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

Assoc. Prof. Siarhei Liubimau, Dr.

Department

European Humanities University ()

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

  • Participation in seminar and forum discussions (40 %, during the semester)
  • Essay (25 %, in the mid semester)
  • Final essay (35%, at the end of the semester)
  • Failure to meet deadlines – minus 1 mark for each week of delay

Aims

  • Students get acquainted with civil society theory, the possible roles and functions of urban civil society organizations .
  • The potential and difficulties of urban NGO and initiatives in several countries of Central and Eastern Europe are observed. Students critically analyze the existing policies towards civil society organizations.
  • Students scrutinize various kinds of actors urban NGOs are, how they impact on or cooperate with other actors (city councils, private businesses, public institutions, academia, etc.). Students explore what networks and infrastructures are crucial for urban NGO’s and initiatives to maintain and operate within various socio-political contexts in the region.

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Brenner, Neil, and Madden, David J., and Wachsmuth, David. 2011. “Assemblage urbanism and the challenges of critical urban theory”. CITY, 15(2): 225–240 (EN)
Egholm, Liv, and Lars Bo Kaspersen, eds. Civil Society: Between Concepts and Empirical Grounds. Routledge, 2021. (EN)
Gerometta, J., Haussermann, H., & Longo, G. (2005). Social Innovation and Civil Society in Urban Governance: Strategies for an Inclusive City. Urban Studies, 42(11), 2007–2021. (EN)
Jacobsson, K., Korolczuk, E. Mobilizing Grassroots in the City: Lessons for Civil Society Research in Central and Eastern Europe. Int J Polit Cult Soc 33, 125–142 (2020). (EN)
Lukas, Michael. "Urban governance." The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies (2019): 1-11. (EN)
Margit Mayer (2013): First world urban activism, City: analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy, action, 17:1, 5-19 (EN)
McFarlane, Colin. 2011. “The city as assemblage: dwelling and urban space”. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 29: 649-671 (EN)
Meyer, Michael, et al. "Civil society and its institutional context in CEE." Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 31.4 (2020): 811-827. (EN)
Mota, Luís, and Maria Vitória Mourão. "Between Passion and Money: Human and Financial Resources and Patterns of Professionalization of Civil Society Organizations." Civil Society Organizations, Unemployment, and Precarity in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2014. 56-84. (EN)
Neera Chandhoke (2007) Civil society, Development in Practice, 17:4-5, 607-614 (EN)
Nikkhah, H. A., & Redzuan, M. B. (2010). The Role of NGOs in Promoting Empowerment for Sustainable Community Development. Journal of Human Ecology, 30(2), 85–92. (EN)
Srinivas, N. (2009). Against NGOs? Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 38(4), 614–626. (EN)

Recommended reading

Hodson, Mike, et al., eds. Urban platforms and the future city: Transformations in infrastructure, governance, knowledge and everyday life. Routledge, 2020. (EN)
Srinivas, Nidhi. Against NGOs?: Common Sense in Civil Society, Management and Development. Cambridge University Press, 2022. (EN)

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme NE_INUS Master's 1 year of study, summer semester, compulsory-optional

Type of course unit

 

Seminar

10 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Assoc. Prof. Siarhei Liubimau, Dr.

Syllabus

2. Civil society and urban governance [2 hour]
3. Opportunities in empowering society [2 hour]
4. Challenges of urban activism [2 hour]
5. Key principles of assemblage urbanism [2 hour]
6. Networks and infrastructures of urban NGO's [2 hour]

Lecture

6 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

Assoc. Prof. Siarhei Liubimau, Dr.

Syllabus

1. Introduction to the civil society studies [1 hour]
2. Civil society and urban governance [1 hour]
3. Opportunities in empowering society [1 hour]
4. Challenges of urban activism [1 hour]
5. Key principles of assemblage urbanism [1 hour]
6. Networks and infrastructures of urban NGO's [1 hour]