Abstract: The author examines the issue of public engagement in Russian civil society organizations based on the case of the Republic of Tatarstan. Local support for civil society organizations is critical to their success, so is productive collaboration between different groups and third sector organizations. The study explores differences of public support for various forms of civil society. In particular, attention is paid to the differences in civil participation in such segments of civil society as socially-oriented NGOs, formally unorganized groups and movements (such as, for example, animal rights activists) and in human rights organizations. Federal and local trends in the development of civil society that affect the civic participation are examined in detail. The author also draws attention to the strategies used by civil society organizations to attract support from the local population. The study is based on in-depth interviews with representatives of civil society organizations and movements. In the selection of participants, purposive sampling is used with balanced representation of age, gender and ethnicity. The main conclusion of the study is the reluctance of Tatarstan’s residents to engage in formal CSOs on a regular basis. However, respondents argued that statistics on low public support for civil society did not always reflect reality, as casual activism went largely unreported, so did voluntary participation in community projects outside formal CSOs. Study participants also pointed to the division of the civil society sector into three subgroups: political groups, socially oriented NGOs and independent groups. These groups see each other not as allies, but as competitors. However, public support for certain initiatives is not determined neither by the type of organization, nor by the presence or absence of government support. Tatarstan’s residents support initiatives that can change their immediate environment in the nearest future.

Keywords: grass-roots organizations, protest, activism, community-building, socially-oriented NGOs, public engagement, Russia's regions, civil society, local ownership, ineffective colloboration

Abstract: The subject of this research is social advertising in African countries and how it reflects social controversies and conflicts. The article offers a selection of social advertising by major tension hot points of social life, composed of photographs made by the author and her colleagues during their expeditions to African countries. Attention is drawn to the issues of domestic violence against women, corruption, AIDS and Ebolavirus, teen pregnancy, the "sugar daddy" practice, and other troubling phenomena. The sponsorship of social advertising is a separate point of focus of this work. The methodological basis of this article rests on the fact that social advertising reflects real issues that affect society. In varying cultures, however, the same issue is viewed differently, and demands unique approaches to people's psychology: it is quite plausible that potential conflict between the African's system of values and the message sent by social advertisement. The author concludes that, despite the fact that social advertising objectively reflects social issues, it often shows them from the Western observer's points of view, and through Western values, as the majority of social advertisements are sponsored by international organizations that also provide real help. With this in mind, social advertisement that is created solely by the initiative of private individuals who made an effort to open the eyes of their compatriots to the problems that sharply affect their society, and who fight them by the means available to them.

Keywords: export of values, moral values, visual anthropology, billboard, society, Africa, social advertisement, corruption, violence against women, AIDS