Cameron Ross - Systemic and Non-Systemic Opposition in the Russian Federation: Civil Society Awakens?

Series Editor: Neil Robinson, University of Limerick, Ireland

The last decade has seen rapid and fundamental change in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Although there has been considerable academic comment on these changes over the years, detailed empirical and theoretical research on the transformation of the post-Soviet space is only just beginning to appear as new paradigms are developed to explain change.

Post-Soviet Politics is a series focusing on the politics of change in the states of the former USSR. The series publishes original work that blends theoretical development with empirical research on post-Soviet politics. The series includes work that progresses comparative analysis of post-Soviet politics, as well as case study research on political change in individual post-Soviet states. The series features original research monographs, thematically strong edited collections and specialized texts.

Uniquely, this series brings together the complete spectrum of work on post-Soviet politics, providing a voice for academics world wide.

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Civil Society Awakens?

E DITED B Y
C AMERON R OSS
University of Dundee, UK

First published 2015 by Ashgate Publishing

Published 2016 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Copyright Cameron Ross 2015

Cameron Ross has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editor of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Ross, Cameron, 1951-

Systemic and non-systemic opposition in the Russian federation : civil society awakens? / by Cameron Ross.

pages cm. (Post-soviet politics)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4724-3504-0 (hbk) ISBN 978-1-3156-1170-9 (ebook) ISBN 978-1-3170-4722-3 (epub) 1. Opposition (Political science)Russia (Federation) 2. Protest movements Russia (Federation) 3. Russia (Federation)Politics and government1991- I. Title.
DK510.763.R66425 2015
947.0863dc23

2015004752

ISBN 9781472435040 (hbk)
ISBN 9781315611709 (ebk-PDF)
ISBN 9781317047223 (ebk-ePUB)

Alfred Evans, Department of Political Science, University of California, Fresno, USA.

Mikhail Ilchenko, Institute of Philosophy and Law, Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation.

Alexander Kynev, Faculty of Political Science, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation.

Olesya Lobanova, Junior Research Fellow at Laboratory of Anthropology, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences.

Luke March, Politics and International Relations, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK.

Valentin Mikhailov, University of Kazan, Tatarstan, Russian Federation.

Cameron Ross, Politics and International Relations, School of Humanities, University of Dundee, UK.

Andrey Semenov, Department of Modern History and International Relations, Tyumen State University, Russian Federation.

Luke Shimek, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.

Regina Smyth, Department of Political Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.

Anton Sobolev, Postgraduate Research Student, Department of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles.

Irina Soboleva, Postgraduate Research Student, Department of Political Theory and Analysis, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation.

Rostislav Turovsky, Faculty of Political Science School of Higher Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation.

Denis Volkov, Levada Centre, Moscow, Russian Federation.

Cameron Ross

Over the period December 2011July 2013 a tidal wave of mass protests swept through the Russian Capital and engulfed scores of cities and regions. These demonstrations came as a great shock to the Russian political establishment. After decades of the passive acceptance of the status quo it appeared that civil society was at last wakening up. As Kramer notes, the protests came in the wake of the Arab Spring revolts which led to the downfall of long-time dictators in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, and sent shock waves through other regimes in North Africa and the Middle East (2013:1). It has been estimated that between 70 and 120 thousand protestors took part in the largest demonstrations which took place in Moscow on the 10th and 24th of December 2011, the 4th of February, and the 5th and 10th of March 2012 (Shevtsova 2012: 20). The main demand of the participants in the initial stages of the protest movement was for free and fair elections. Later, as Shevtsova observes, the elected leaders of the protest movement made five demands, 1) free all political prisoners; 2) dismiss Central Election Commission head Vladimir Churov and investigate all claims of vote fraud; annul all results found to be fraudulent; 4) register opposition parties; and 5) hold new parliamentary elections (2012: 21).

The Russian protests, as Aron stresses, also manifested a strong ethical component as people demanded that the state respect their rights and dignity as citizens. The protest slogans reflected this moral sensibility: Dont lie to us! Dont steal from us! Listen to us! We are not cattle! We are not a faceless crowd! We are the people! (2013: 64). However, over time there was a gradual radicalization of the protest movement and it was not long before there were calls from a hard line core of seasoned rally participants for a much more comprehensive overhaul of the political system and an end to the Putin regime.