Despite decades of Putin, it is too simplistic to assert that authoritarianism has eliminated Russian activism, especially in relation to everyday life. Instead, we must build an awareness of diverse efforts to mobilize citizens to better understand how activism is shaped by and, in turn, shapes the regime.   Varieties of Russian Activism focuses on a broad range of collective actions, from labor unions to housing renovation, religion, electoral politics, minority language rights, and urban planning. Contributors draw attention to significant forms of grassroots politics that have not received sufficient attention in scholarship, or that deserve fresh examination. The volume shows that Russians find novel ways to redress everyday problems and demand new services. Together, these essays interrogate what kinds of practices can be defined as activism in a fast-changing, politically volatile society.   An engaging collection, Varieties of Russian Activism unites leading scholars in the common aim of approaching the embeddedness of civic activism in the conditions of everyday life, connectedness, and rising society-state expectations.

Despite decades of Putin, it is too simplistic to assert that authoritarianism has eliminated Russian activism, especially in relation to everyday life. Instead, we must build an awareness of diverse efforts to mobilize citizens to better understand how activism is shaped by and, in turn, shapes the regime.   Varieties of Russian Activism focuses on a broad range of collective actions, from labor unions to housing renovation, religion, electoral politics, minority language rights, and urban planning. Contributors draw attention to significant forms of grassroots politics that have not received sufficient attention in scholarship, or that deserve fresh examination. The volume shows that Russians find novel ways to redress everyday problems and demand new services. Together, these essays interrogate what kinds of practices can be defined as activism in a fast-changing, politically volatile society.   An engaging collection, Varieties of Russian Activism unites leading scholars in the common aim of approaching the embeddedness of civic activism in the conditions of everyday life, connectedness, and rising society-state expectations.

With the rise of grassroots initiatives in urban spaces across Eastern Europe and Eurasia in recent decades, Urban Activism in Eurasia addresses three central questions: What are distinctive features and the dynamic of urban activism in contemporary post-Soviet cities? How urban civic engagement does evolve on a micro level and in larger-scale processes? How a variety of group and individuals who claim to the city space and its development find their own ways to initiate local urban change. The volume challenges the prevailing simplistic view of weak, passive and scared citizens in Eastern European and Eurasian cities, which are often seen to be predominantly shaped by neo-liberal and authoritarian structures. Instead, we argue for the vibrant diversity and dynamism in the contemporary urban civic activism in Eurasia. Employing diverse sources such as intriguing photographs, interviews with local activists and scholarly reports from the field of anthropology, urban planning, architecture, political sciences and sociology, the edited volume explores the creativity and novelty of Eurasian urban grass roots activism. Drawing on these multi-disciplinary perspectives, the volume hopes to overcome distances and trigger dialogues in several respects and realms: among the interested public, activists, 'urban decision makers' and scholars in East and West, North and South alike. With contributions by Andrei Semenov, Levon Abrahamian, Gayane Shagoyan, Nadia Douglas, Oleg Pachenkov, Lila Voronkova, Christian Frohlich, Lela Rekviashvili, Esma Berikishvili, David Sichinava, Alexander Formosov, Nazaket Azimli, Otto Habeck, Jonas Buchel, Carola S. Neugebauer, Olena Denysenko and Tsypylma Darieva.