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Dr. Anna Schwenck
University of Siegen Social Sciences (Germany)

Russia, a Country of Possibilities? Authoritarianism and Neoliberalism in Russia
To many observers Russia has developed into a standard case of hyper-nationalist totalitarianism since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Indeed, we witness a state-funded war economy, extensive patriotic education programs promoting personal sacrifice for the motherland and severe punishments for dissent. Yet, even in the current situation a peculiar mixture of neoliberal techniques and authoritarian practices, developed in the two decades leading up to the war, continue to shape Russian government politics towards up-and-coming adults. As Anna Schwenck argues on the basis of ethnographic and archival research on youth-leadership summer camps in Central and Eastern Siberia as well as extensive interviews with young campers at these idiosyncratic establishments, a transnational public culture of self-optimization, entrepreneurialism and positivity shapes not only Russian (youth) politics, but is also fundamental to make sense of the complex texture of loyalty that stabilizes the flexible authoritarian regime. Her research shows that the neoliberal classification of people into undeserving and deserving types and the supposition that the individual forges his own destiny are central elements in narratives that legitimate authoritarian rule in Russia and beyond.

Presented as part of the course LLCU 326 Film and the New Europe.