Gendered and Classed Activist Identity in the Russian Oppositional Youth Movement

Abstract

This article examines how activist identity is constructed in the Russian opposition youth movement Oborona. The research is based on fieldwork among youth activists in Moscow and St Petersburg.The author analyses how activist identity is classed and gendered, as well as its relations to the Russian civic field. The article suggests, first, that the activist identity is marked by an affiliation with the intelligentsia: activists have grown up in intelligentsia families and articulate their activities through the intelligentsia's 'markers', such as intelligence, discussion skills and education. Secondly, activists follow a dissidents' cultural model, by emphasizing the importance of non-conformism and traditional dissident values, and draw parallels between the contemporary government and the totalitarian Soviet state. Thirdly, this traditional intellectual dissident identity is associated with cosmopolitanism through the movement's international connections and appropriation of the forms of action of global social movements. Sometimes the activist practices and aspirations conflict with the group's ideals. Furthermore, the activist identity is gendered and embodied in the right activist 'look', which is defined by masculinity. Regardless of the movement's liberal ideals in regards to democracy, questions of gender and sexuality are not discussed, and activists do not question traditional understandings of gendered divisions of labour.

Teenage girls’ narratives of becoming activists

“…However, they are not merely individual. Activist entry stories can serve to define the meaning of activist (Bobel, 2007), to construct the collective identity of an organisation or broader movement, specifying who 'belongs' or 'fits' and who does not (Lyson, 2014;Lyytikäinen, 2013), and to lay out a trajectory for how others may come to be mobilised (Oyakawa, 2015). Further, activist stories of the self are socially patterned and embedded in larger cultural vocabularies, interpretive frameworks, and discursive contexts (Valocchi, 2013).…”

“…Each type of narrative is linked to a distinct activist biography and trajectory. But activist entry stories are far from universal; recent scholarship highlights how class, race, and gender all influence the ways that individuals narrate their activist biographies (Lyson, 2014;Lyytikäinen, 2013;Valocchi, 2013). For example, Valocchi's (2013) important contribution highlights three very different activist entry narratives for activists from distinct class backgrounds: activism as career, activism as calling, and activism as a way of life.…”

Creating Organisational Strength from Operationalising Restrictions: Welfare Non-profit Organisations in the Russian Federation

“…Our focus on one sector in two regions also means that future research will need to focus on a more detailed exploration of organisational activities in less industrial regions and within different NPO sectors, particularly as we already indicate that those hNPOs engage engaged in political or social stigma find engagement in some types of activities less worth their while. We would also suggest that future research in Russia might also take a more gendered focus (Lyytikäinen 2013;Salmenniemi 2005). Both women's rights and hNPOs are dominated by female leaders and seemed to have been successful at demonstrating organisational strength and 'managing' Russia's hybrid regime environment.…”

And After That We All became Like Brothers

“…Thus, the notion of affective solidarity enables us to pay attention to powerful affective ties of movements, in which emotions, confrontations and risks are part and parcel of youth solidarities. Although gender may also be important in relation to solidarity-building and activists' identities in youth movements (e.g., Lyytikäinen, 2013;Sperling, 2012), it is beyond the scope of the present article.…”