Staff

Elena Iarskaia-Smirnova

Professor

Academic Department of Social Sciences
Email: elena.iarskaia-smirnova@ehu.lt

Education

Ph.D. in Social Work, Department of Social Sciences University of Goteborg, Sweden 2011
Doctor of Science in Sociology Saratov State Technical University at Saratov, Russia 1997
Candidate of Science in Philosophy Saratov State Chernyshevskii University 1989

Teaching areas

Qualitative Research Methods, Visual Anthropology, Gender Studies, Research Seminar, Sociology of Public Sphere, Social Work, Disability, Family and Children, Professions and Occupations, Inclusion, Visual Studies

Research interests

Disability, Family and Child Care Policies, Social Work, Gender, Inclusion/Exclusion, Representations

Publications

Books and book chapters in English

2023 Cook, L.J., Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. NGOs in the context of the reform of social services in Russia, in: Ilcheong Yi, Alexandra Kaasch and Kelly Stetter (eds) Trends in Social Policy from the South: Challenges and Innovations in Developing Countries, Policy Press, 2023, in print

2019 Iarskaia-Smirnova, E., Yarskaya V., Grigorieva I. From social contract to the market of social services: routes and resources for social work professionalization, in: European Dimension in Social Work Education and Practice, Ostrava: Ostrava University, 2019: 171-182.

2018     Iarskaia-Smirnova E. Disability, in: The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. Wiley, 2018

2018 Iarskaia-Smirnova, E., Abramov R., Saltykov D. Gendered Identities Among Medical Professionals in Post-Socialist Russian Cinema, in: Gendering Postsocialism: Old Legacies and New Hierarchies Ed. by Y. Gradskova, I. A. Morell. Routledge, 2018:  231-244

2016 Iarskaia-Smirnova, E., Abramov, R. Professions and Professionalisation in Russia, in: The Routledge Companion to the Professions and Professionalism. New York: Routledge, 2016: 280-294

2015 Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. and Romanov, P. Social work in Russia: between the global and the local, in: George Palattiyil, Dina Sidhva, Mono Chakrabarti (eds) Social work in a global context: issues and challenges.  NY: Routledge, 2015: 207-223

2014 Rasell, M., Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. (eds) Disability in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. History, policy and everyday life. NY; Abingdon: Routledge, 2014. 288 pages

2014 Rasell, M. and Iarskaia-Smirnova, E.   Conceptualising Disability in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, in: Rasell, M. and Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. (eds)  Disability in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. History, policy and everyday life. NY; Abingdon: Routledge, 2014: 1-17

2014 Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. and Romanov, P. Heroes and Spongers: The iconography of disability in Soviet poster and film, in: Rasell, M. and Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. (eds)   Disability in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. History, Policy and Everyday Life. NY; Abingdon: Routledge, 2014:  67-96

2013 Iarskaia-Smirnova, E., Romanov P. Social workers affecting social policy in Russia, in: Gal, J., Weiss-Gal, I. (eds) Social Workers Affecting Social Policy. An International Perspective. London: The Policy Press, 2013: 101—119. 

2012 Iarskaia-Smirnova, Elena and Pavel Romanov Doing class in social welfare discourses: ‘unfortunate families’ in Russia, in: Salmenniemi, S. (ed) Rethinking class in Russia. Farnham: Ashgate, 2012: 85-105  

2012 Iarskaia-Smirnova, Elena and Pavel Romanov Single Mothers—Clients or Citizens? Social Work with Poor Families in Russia, in: Carlbäck, H., Gradskova Y., Kravchenko, Zh. And They Lived Happily Ever After. Norms and Everyday Practices of Parenthood in Russia and Eastern Europe. Budapest: CEU Press, 2012: 207-230.

2011       Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. Gender and Class in Russian Welfare Policy: Soviet Legacies and 

               Contemporary Challenges. Goteborg: University of Goteborg, Ineko.  

2011 Elena Iarskaia-Smirnova “A Girl Who Liked to Dance”: Life Experiences of Russian Women with Motor Impairments, in: Jäppinen, V., Kulmala, M. and Saarinen, A. Gazing at Welfare, Gender and Agency in Post-socialist Countries. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011: 104-125

2008  Iarskaia-Smirnova E., Romanov P. Culture matters: integration of folk medicine in health care in Russia, in: Ellen Kuhlmann, E. and Saks, M. (eds) Rethinking professional governance: International directions in health care. Bristol: The Policy Press, 2008: 141-154  

Refereed journal articles in English  

2022 Davidenko, M., & Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. Non-profit administrative advocacy: anti-violence non-profit organisations and their relations with state agencies in Russia, Voluntary Sector Review (published online ahead of print 2022) https://doi.org/10.1332/204080521X16696277851875 

2022 Cook L., Iarskaia-Smirnova E. R., Kozlov V. A. Trying to Reverse Demographic Decline: Pro-Natalist and Family Policies in Russia, Poland and HungarySocial Policy and Society. Online first

2022 Iarskaia-Smirnova E. R., Goriainova A. Inclusive Education in Today’s Russia: Room for ManoeuvreEurope-Asia Studies. 2022. Vol. 74. No. 3. P. 426-448. doi

2021 Cook L. J., Iarskaia-Smirnova E. R., Tarasenko A. Outsourcing Social Services to NGOs in Russia: Federal Policy and Regional ResponsesPost-Soviet Affairs. 2021. Vol. 37. No. 2. P. 119-136. doi

2021  Iarskaia-Smirnova E. R., Kononenko R. V. The ‘last-minute children’: Where did they come from, where will they go? Media portrayals of children deprived of parental care, 2006–2018, in: Reforming Child Welfare in the Post-Soviet Space Institutional Change in Russia. L.: Routledge, 2021. doi P. 47-67. doi

2021 Iarskaia-Smirnova E. R., Kononenko R. V., Kosova O., Yarskaya V. “They should cook borsch, chop wood…”: Contemporary Images of Social Work in the Context of Welfare Policy Reforms in Russia’s Print MediaEuropean Journal of Social Work. 2021. Vol. 24. No. 2. P. 358-370. doi

2020 Iarskaia-Smirnova E. R., Verbilovich V. “It’s No Longer Taboo, is It?” Stories of Intimate Citizenship of People with Disabilities in Today’s Russian Public Sphere, Sexuality and Culture https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12119-019-09699-z doi

2018 Iarskaia-Smirnova, E., Lyons, K. Social work in FSU countries: mapping the progress of ‘the professional project’, European Journal of Social work, 21(1): 114-127 doi: 10.1080/13691457.2016.1255926

2016 Iarskaia-Smirnova, E., Prisyazhnyuk, D., Kononenko, R. Representations of inequality and social policy in the Russian official press, 2005-2012, European Journal of Social Policy, 26(3): 268-280 doi

2015 Zdravomyslova O., Iarskaia-Smirnova E. R. Girlhood studies in post-socialist times, Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 8(1): 3-9

2015 Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. and Romanov, P. Parenting children with disabilities in Russia: institutions, discourses and identities, Europe-Asia Studies.  67(10): 1606-1634.

2015 Romanov, P. and Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. “Foreign agents” in the field of social policy research: the demise of civil liberties and academic freedom in contemporary Russia, in: European Journal of Social Policy. 25(4): 359–365. doi: 10.1177/0958928715594539

2014 Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. and K. Lyons (guest eds) Social Work and Welfare Developments in Russia, thematic issue of International Social Work. 57(5): 431-434. doi:10.1177/0020872814539904

2014 Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. and M. Rasell  Integrating practice into Russian social work education: institutional logics and curriculum regulation, International Social Work.   57(3): 220 – 232. doi: 10.1177/0020872813519660

2008 Iarskaia-Smirnova Е. and Romanov P. Gendering social work in Russia: towards anti-discriminatory practices, in: Equal Opportunities. 27 (1) 1: 64-76. doi: 10.1108/02610150810844947

2007 Iarskaia-Smirnova E., Romanov P. Perspectives of inclusive education in Russia, in: European Journal of Social Work. 10 (1): 89-105. doi:10.1080/13691450601143732

2002 Iarskaia-Smirnova E., Romanov, P. “A salary is not important here…” Professionalization of Social Work in Contemporary Russia, in: Social Policy and Administration, 36(2): 123-141. doi: 10.1111/1467-9515.00275 

1999 Iarskaia-Smirnova E. “What the future will bring I do not know…” Mothering Children with Disabilities in Russia and the Politics of Exclusion, in: Frontiers. A Journal for Women Studies, 2: 58-86. doi: 10.2307/3347014

Recent projects:

2019 – 2022 Higher School of Economics Foundation for Basic Research, collective grant for the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research “Social Inclusion in the post-socialist space: institutions, actors and values”

2018-2022 Russian Science Foundation, a member of the collective research project “Accessible environment in a modern urban context: towards the inclusive social policy”

2015-2017   UNRISD collective project “New Directions in Social Policy. Russia Case Study”   

 

2013-2017 Norwegian Research Council, collective project “The Russian welfare state under quadruple influence: stability or conflict? “ 

2014-2016 Russian Foundation for Humanities, PI of the collective grant ‘Occupational Culture of Social Services: social anthropological approach’

2014-2018 Russian Science Foundation, a member of the collective research project “Diversity of the forms of socio cultural cohesion in today’s Russian society”

Editorial work

2003 to present Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Social Policy Studies, a quarterly peer-reviewed and edited journal of scholarship on social issues in Russia and in the world http://jsps.hse.ru/en/

Editorial board members: Journal of Sociology and Social Anthrology, Woman in Russian Society, Tomsk University Herald on Philosophy, Sociology, Political Sciences, Praxema (Russian journals); European Journal of Social Work (Russian language abstract editor)

Editor of a number of collective monographs in Russian (Visual Anthropology, Social Policy, Social Work)

Special thematic issues co-editor: 

2014     with Karen Lyons, International Social Work 57 (5) Social Work and Welfare Developments in Russia

2015     with Olga Zdravomyslova, Girlhood Studies 8(1) Girlhood Studies in Post-Socialist Times

2022 with Linda J. Cook, Europe & Asia Studies 74 (6) Modernizing Welfare in Russia and Other Post-Soviet States. De-institutionalization, Integration, and Agency