Goncharov Dmitry

Anti-Corruption Protests 2017: Reflection in Twitter

Although the number of Twitter users is significantly lower than other social networks in our country (primarily, Vkontakte and Facebook), its social and political significance is quite high, due to both the network’s technical features, and the specificity of public and political communication in modern Russia. Against the background of the strict state control over the key social media, Twitter is an independent and efficient platform for interactive exchange of information. During the protests on March 26, 2017, and immediately thereafter, Twitter not only supplemented (or even replaced) the federal media’s role in disseminating important information, but also acted as a channel for social and political discussion and construction of offline networks.

The article attempts to show how one can draw conclusions about the evolution of the Russian protest politics on the basis of the analysis of Twitter communication. The authors focus on whether Twitter messages shed light on the mechanisms of socio-political mobilization and protest potential in general.

The conducted research shows that Twitter can be viewed as an effective tool of social and political mobilization, which opens up opportunities for overcoming collective action problem in the process of social movements for- mation. Twitter communication can help strengthen solidarity and crystallization of offline networks, by creating favorable conditions for collective action. At the same time, similar to other social networks, it can be used to mobilize not only the opposition, but also the loyalist segment of the society.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2018-88-1-65-81

Pages: 65-81

SOCIO-CULTURAL ENGINEERING OF TOTALITARIANISM: SOVIET GASTRONOMIC PROJECT

The paper attempts to explore the everyday gastronomic practices prevailing in the Soviet Russia as a tool providing for the socio-cultural and institutional support for the system of totalitarian social and political mobilization. On the basis of the thorough analysis of the Soviet “gastronomic project” the authors show that although many components of the project (idea of universal solidarity, change of women social status, etc.) might have looked attractive for a representative of the early industrial society, its historical task was different – it was intended to create a social mechanism for isolating an individual from other equal actors, depriving him/her of the prospect of personal autonomy and subordinating him/her to the vertical structures of totalitarian control.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2013-69-2-142-155

Searching Sustainable Civic Society (with Orenburg Region as an Example)

The article studies the role and capacities of the regional level in establishing of civic society with Orenburg region as an example. The author tries to measure the level of «social capital» in the regional community in order to determine the degree of the real involvement of the population into the true civil activity. The article also covers the analysis of the role of the local elite in the dynamics of the above mentioned processes and the comparison of the situation in Orenburg region with other Russian regions.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2001-22-4-113-126

Pages: 113-126