Refereed scientific book or report (C1)

Performing political opposition in Russia. The case of the youth group Oborona




List of AuthorsLyytikäinen Laura

Publication year2016

Number of pages38

ISBN978-1-4724-4635-0

DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315600017


Abstract

Drawing
on fieldwork conducted in Moscow and St. Petersburg among the political
opposition’s youth group Oborona (Defence), this ground-breaking work
brings forward a multifaceted and colourful image of the life of
political opposition activists in a restricted political environment.
Existing studies on youth political activism in Russia have mainly dealt
with the pro-Kremlin youth movements, such as Nashi, while youth
opposition activism has been studied very little. Lyytikäinen
contributes to this gap by showing how youth are also actively
organizing against the current government and how Russian oppositional
youth activist practices are diverse and constantly evolving.

Theoretically this book contributes to discussions on activist
identities, as well as to an understanding of social movements and
protest by analysing political protests as social performances. The
research illustrates how Soviet continuities and liberal ideas are
entangled in Russian political activism to create new post-socialist
political identities and practices. It also questions the idea of
Russian democratization being tied to its totalitarian past, and that of
western-type liberal democracy being the goal of this process. Instead,
the book proposes that Russian political culture should be analysed on
its own, and as an entanglement of various interacting systems of
thought.


Last updated on 2022-23-11 at 13:15