The evolution of key Russian political discourse: From ‘western democracy’ to ‘the quality of democracy’

Martyanov, Victor

doi:10.1080/15705850508438913

Cited by 3 publications

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“…(Inna) Inna's exceptionally strong dislike of the leading liberals reflects the personified understanding of power, which associates certain political groups or ideologies with their leaders instead of political doctrines. The Russian public shares a similar view: the terms 'democrat' and 'liberal' are discredited in Russia because they are associated with the people responsible for the reforms and the 'shock therapy' of the 1990s (Martyanov 2005). Nor is Limonov admired by the public, but often associated with the 'extremists', as the National Bolsheviks are portrayed in public.…”

Section: 'Always Against and No Compromises' -Self-identification Witmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Russians tend to exhibit nostalgic sentiments of Soviet times and to be suspicious of the West, liberalism and the Democrats, which they often associate with the shock therapies of the 1990s and the declining living standards of that era (Martyanov 2005). The opposition's demonstrations, such as the Strategy-31 protests, are built on liberal claims and performed in a way that makes sense to the participants themselves, and perhaps also to the foreign news audiences, but their message often remains unheard by the Russian public.…”

Section: Social Performancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Performing Political Opposition in Russia

Lyytikäinen¹

2016

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Russian civil society is often described as weak and Russians as politically apathetic. However, as a surprise for many, tens of thousands of people gathered on the streets of Moscow to protest the fraud in the parliamentary elections in December 2011. Nevertheless, this 'awakening' did not last for long as Vladimir Putin took hold of the Presidency again in 2012. Since then, the Russian State Duma has passed new legislation to restrict civic and political activism. This, together with the fragmentation of the opposition movement, has hindered large-scale and sustained mobilization against the government. In 2013, the number of protests has plummeted when the risks of demonstrating are high and the benefits to participate in political activism appear non-existent.Why is it impossible for the Russian opposition to find a common voice and to sustain contentious action? This book analyzes how political opportunities and restrictions in contemporary Russia have affected the opposition activists' activities at the grassroots level. The book examines Russian civil society, contemporary activist strategies, and democratization from the perspective of the young activists participating in the liberal youth movement Oborona (Defense) in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Before its dissolution in 2011, Oborona was an active participant in the Russian opposition movement, and thus it is an interesting case study of the living activist traditions in Russia.The research illustrates how the Soviet continuities and liberal ideas are entangled in Russian political activism to create new post-socialist political identities and practices. In Russia, the group of dissenters is small, and the political elite in power do not leave much room for voices of dissent in order for the opposition to grow and diverge. However, the study argues that one of the reasons of Oborona's demise came from inside the movement: The group's solidarity was based on personal ties instead of political connectedness. Furthermore, the movement suffered from the lack of common ideological goals and leader-centeredness. The research suggests that these problems can be found in Russia's liberal opposition in general and explain why it is inefficient to mobilize large amounts of people for public demonstrations and to sustain protests.The research draws on sociological theories on identities, social performance, and politicization as well as class, gender and generation studies. The data is derived from thematic interviews and ABSTRACTThis book examines Russian civil society and democratization from the perspective of the oppositional youth activists in Moscow and St. Petersburg. It takes the Russian youth movement Oborona (Defense) as its case study. Before its dissolution in 2011, the movement was an active participant in the 'non-systemic' opposition, and thus it is an interesting case study of the 'actually existing' activist traditions in Russia. The book analyses how youth activists use the tools applicable in today's Russia to resist and reinterpret the cultura...

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Section: 'Always Against and No Compromises' -Self-identification Witmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Social Performancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performing Political Opposition in Russia

Lyytikäinen¹

2016

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“…(Fathaigh et al, 2021) 4 These messages (implicitly or otherwise) impose Western worldviews on Russian citizens in defining what is 'true' or 'fake' and what is 'right' or 'wrong'. When presented with ontologically divergent values (Makarova et al, 2019;Martyanov, 2005), individuals can respond in a number of ways. For some, it may trigger internal dilemmas and challenge fundamental elements of their sense of self.…”

Section: Ethical Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The right to information or data sovereignty? Sending unsolicited messages to Russians about the war in Ukraine

Whitworth

2023

Big Data & Society

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The Russian government's narrative about the Russia-Ukraine war has raised concerns about disinformation, fake news and freedom of information. In response, websites have been developed that allow people across the world to call or send emails and texts with information about the war to individuals based in Russia. To facilitate this person-to-person communication between strangers, automated data processing has been used to collect personal data from the internet and compile it into publicly accessible mailing lists. This side-stepping of consent coupled with the nature of information being transmitted and the motivation behind its transmission poses important questions of an ethical nature: What is an appropriate balance between the data subjects’ right to freedom of information and their right to privacy? Can data processing without the consent of the data subject be justified in certain circumstances? This commentary does not seek to provide definitive answers to these questions, rather it canvases some key issues in the hope of starting further dialogue on the topic.

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Social status of legal opposition in modern Russia (based on the material of publications of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia

Kozyrev¹

2020

Социодинамика

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The goal of this work is to determine the social status of legal opposition in Russia based on the classical analysis. The object of this research is publications of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR). The theory developed by Karl Mannheim serves as methodological framework for this work. It is determines that the representatives of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia belong to one of the groups of political elite that filled a relatively unpretentious niche. At the same time, the key (and perhaps the only) resource of the party is political one. Electoral support is the aspect the party can really rely on. Nationalism and anti-Semitism also are of populist nature, since they do not receive any due theoretical substantiation in the analyzed party documents. The party does not represents interest of large capital. Moreover, on the permanent basis LDPR leadership does not represent interests of any social group, besides the one they belong to. Reduction of the socioeconomic issues to the question of moral and business qualities of the ruling elite and possibility for its rotation suggest that the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia is satisfied with the current political regime and socioeconomic formation. The struggle is only for expansion of the filled niche. The aforementioned factors, along with the absence of sustainable and resourceful social backbone, leads to the thought that the existence of liberal democrats in Russia is directly or indirectly supported by the ruling elite.

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The evolution of key Russian political discourse: From ‘western democracy’ to ‘the quality of democracy’

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Performing Political Opposition in Russia

Performing Political Opposition in Russia

The right to information or data sovereignty? Sending unsolicited messages to Russians about the war in Ukraine

Social status of legal opposition in modern Russia (based on the material of publications of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia

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