VYTAUTAS MAGNUS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND DIMPLOMACY POLITICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT

Abduzokirkhuja Ozodkhujayev

MODERN FORMS OF POLITICAL PROTEST IN RUSSIA (MODERNIOSIOS PROTESTO FORMOS RUSIJOJE)

Bachelor final thesis

World politics and economy, state code 612L20009 Political science studies

Supervisor _____ Dr. Gintare Zukaite______Defended _____Prof. dr. Sarunas Liekis______

Kaunas, 2020 CONTENTS Contents ABSTRACT ...... 3 SANTRAUKA ...... 5 INTRODUCTION ...... 7 I. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF PROTEST ...... 10 1.1 Concept of Protest ...... 10 1.2 Theories of protest ...... 14 1.3 Traditional forms of protest ...... 17 1.4 Reasons for protest ...... 19 II. MODERN FORMS OF POLITICAL PROTEST ...... 22 2.1 Evolution of the modern forms of political protest ...... 22 2.2 The role of media in protest ...... 26 2.3 Terrorism as a political action ...... 30 III. POLITICAL PROTESTS IN RUSSIA DURING 2019 ...... 34 3.1 Political activity of citizens ...... 34 3.2 Opponents and Results ...... 39 Conclusion ...... 43 LIST OF LITERATURE AND SOURCES: ...... 44

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Abduzokirkhuja Ozodkhujayev. MODERN FORMS OF POLITICAL PROTEST IN RUSSIA: World politics and Economy. Final thesis / Supervisor Prof. dr. Gintare Zukaite / Vytautas Magnus University, Faculty of Political sciences and diplomacy, Political sciences department. – Kaunas, 2020. 36 P.

ABSTRACT

In modern social science there is no unambiguous interpretation of the concept of political protest. Different researchers, based on their own scientific tasks, include various political actions and forms of political participation of citizens in this concept. A fairly common point of view is the definition of political protest as one of the forms of political participation of citizens. As political protest is one of the main factors indicating state’s life evaluation, it makes the topic relevant. Nowadays Russia is facing problems with political activity of people due to Putin’s policy based on authoritarian system which causes a problem. The object is importance of political protest and Its use in Russia for 2019 year. The research identifies political protest phenomenon as a key element of the modern political system same as social life in Russia’s example. Problem. Political protest is a key element of society in the 21st century. Its behavior can change lives in the country. Like any other element of the political system, its tactics and forms are up datable. Which causes huge difficulties in dealing with protests. Its importance in evaluating of country’s life is very high. Especially, Russia faced political protest participants’ increase and its modern forms. Object. Role of political movement and Political protests in Russia for 2019 year. Goal. To analyze the role of the use of modern political protest forms in Russia. Tasks: 1. To determine the theories and the basic concepts of political protest and its forms. 2. To study the importance of modern forms of political protest and practice of protest. 3. Identify political protests in Russia for 2019 year and the government’s reaction. Methodology. The paper will be done by using quantitative research methods. Comparison, descriptive methods are going to be used. Quantitative research method is used to present articles about the topic. The comparison method is used to bring out the differences between traditional and modern forms of political protest as well as Western and Russian experience. The descriptive method will describe the problems identified and possible solutions.

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The research uses different sources such as books, articles, etc. The main book used for the theoretical approach is G. Robertson (2011). The Politics of Protest in Hybrid Regimes: Managing Dissent in Post-Communist Russia. For better understanding of the situation in Russia taken the articles and polls provided by Levada Analytical center. Structure. The bachelor thesis will include the introduction, three chapters, and the conclusion. The first chapter will introduce the research, concepts of Political protest. The second chapter will study the relevance of modern political protest forms. The third chapter will identify the modern forms of political protest in Russia for 2019 year and state’s reaction to the opposition movements. Conclusion will cover the outcome of the research done. In conclusion, it is difficult to describe political protest in one theory because it consists of many different aspects and appears in different views such as violent (Terrorism), individual, mass protests. As world is changing protests are also following up, modern forms of protests appeared like hacktivism, flash mob, art activism, etc. Russia has problems with dealing people’s discontent and political protests caused Putin’s policy and corruption in the country. Mass media and new Technologies, different oppositions make it even harder to deal with, especially for the stare with centralized system.

Key words: Activism, collective behavior / action, discontent, political protest, propaganda.

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Abduzokirkhuja Ozodkhujayev. MODERNIOSIOS PROTESTO FORMOS RUSIJOJE: Pasaulio politika ir ekononika. Baigiamasis darbas / Vadovė Prof. dr. Gintare Zukaite / Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas, Politikos mokslų ir diplomatijos fakultetas, Politologijos katedra. – Kaunas, 2020. 36 P.

SANTRAUKA

Moderniosios sociologijos moksle nėra vienareikšmiškos politinio protesto koncepto interpretacijos. Skirtingi mokslininkai, remdamiesi savo specifinėmis užduotimis, į šį kontekstą įtraukia įvairias politines veiklas ir politinio piliečių dalyvavimo formas. Gana dažnu požiūriu politinio protesto apibrėžimas suprantamas kaip viena iš piliečių politinių veiklų. Kadangi politinis protestas yra vienas iš pagrindinių faktorių, indikuojančių valstybės gyvenimo įvertinimą, tai nulemia šios temos aktualumą. Šiandien Rusija susiduria su žmonių politinio aktyvumo problemomis dėl Putino autoritarizmu grįstos politikos, kuri ir sukelia problemą. Darbo objektas – politinio protesto svarba ir praktika Rusijoje 2019 metais. Tyrimas identifikuoja politinio protesto fenomeną kaip raktinį modernios politinės sistemos elementą, taip pat kaip ir socialinio gyvenimo Rusijoje pavyzdį. Problema. Politinis protestas yra raktinis 21-ojo amžiaus visuomenės elementas. Jo eiga gali keisti gyvenimus šalyje. Kaip bet kuris kitas politinės sistemos elementas, jo taktikos ir formos nuolat kinta. Tai nulemia sunkumus protestų sprendime. Politinio protesto svarba, vertinant šalies gyvenimą yra labia svarbi. Ypatingai, Rusijos patirtų politinių protestų dalyvių skaičius auga ir formos modernėja. Objektas. Politinio judėjimo ir Politinių protestų Rusijoje 2019-aisiais metais vaidmuo. Tikslas. Išanalizuoti modernaus politinio protesto formų Rusijoje vaidmenį Uždaviniai: 1. Apibrėžti politinio protesto ir jo formų teorijas ir pagrindinius koncepcijas. 2. Išanalizuoti modernių politinio protesto formų svarbą ir veikimą praktiniame lygmenje. 3. Identifikuoti politinius protestus ir valdžios reakciją Rusijoje 2019-aisiais metais. Metodologija. Baigiamasis darbas atliktas remiantis kokybiniais tyrimo metodais. Palyginimui naudojami aprašomieji metodai. Kokybinis tyrimas naudojamas pristatyti su tema susijusius straipsnius. Lyginamasis metodas naudojamas išskirti skirtumus tarp tradicinių ir modernių protesto formų taip pat kaip Vakarų ir Rusijos patirties. Aprašomasis metodas apibrėžia identifikuotas problemas ir galimus sprendimus.

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Tyrime naudoti skirtingi šaltiniai, tokie kaip knygos, straipsniai ir t.t. Pagrindinė knyga teorinei prieigai - G. Robertson (2011), The Politics of Protest in Hybrid Regimes: Managing Dissent in Post- Communist Russia. Geresniam situacijos Rusijoje supratimui naudoti Levados Analitinio centro straipsniai ir apklausos. Struktūra. Baigiamasis darbas susideda iš įvado, trijų skyrių ir išvadų. Pirmasis skyrius nagrinėja politinio protesto koncepcijas ir tyrimus. Antrasis skyrius studijuoja modernių politinio protesto formų svarbą. Trečias skyrius identifikuoja modernaus politinio protesto formas Rusijoje 2019- ais metais ir valdžios reakciją į opozicijos judėjimus. Išvados atskleidžia tyrimo rezultatus. Galima daryti išvadą, jog viena teorija yra sudėtinga apibrėžti politinį protestą, kadangi jis susideda iš daug skirtingų aspektų ir išryškėja skirtinguose požiūriuose tokiuose kaip smurto (terorizmas), individualiame, masiniuose protestuose. Kartu su kintančiu pasauliu kinta ir protestai, atsiranda modernios protesto formos, tokios kaip haktivizmas, „flash mob‘ai“, meno aktivyzmai ir kt. Rusija turi problemų sprendžiant žmonių nepasitenkinimą ir politinius protestus, sukeltus Putino politikos ir korupcijos šalyje. Žiniasklaida ir Naujos technologijos, skirtingos opozicijos dar labiau apsunkina situaciją, ypatingai stebint centralizuotą sistemą.

Raktiniai žodžiai: Aktyvizmas, kolektyvinis elgesys/veiksmai, nepasitenkinimas, politinis protestas, propaganda.

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INTRODUCTION

Political protest is one of the main ways of expressing discontent in human life. In Russia’s cases, it is quite an important feature for people who fed up with Putin’s “Democracy” in the country. As well as it in the interests of other countries. Such as the United States, looking for unipolarity, European countries, looking for democracy and equality. To understand the difference between Western countries and Russia dealing with political protest is enough to see some examples. However, in the end, it comes to the point, when the government does not take in consideration protest actions and continuous its way as started. Relevance. In society, protest helps to realize that we are not alone, not depending on the form of the protest. It makes people united even though not always we win. Especially, it helps minority groups to be mentioned. Political protest behavior is linked to all elements of the political system. Which means political decisions shape it. However, the versatility of political protest makes it a problem for analysis and approaches. Countries mainly differ in the way how they deal with protests. It can be democratically by organizing debates or like the Soviet Union, recognize protestors as the traitors of the homeland. However, the government used to hide such actions and even now many records of the Soviet Union are classified. But 1990s’ trail of transition to democracy in Russia also Constitution1, they increased the activity of mass in protests. Since the 21st century, modern Russian society gained opposition who are organizing political movements, strikes. One of them is Alexei Navalny, a political activist who fights against corruption in Russia. His family’s bank accounts were blocked recently for actively criticizing Putin.2 It shows that year by the year the Russian government is ignoring society more and more. Even though only during 2019, many protest campaigns were held. Problem. Political protest is a key element of society in the 21st century. Its behavior can change lives in the country. Like any other element of the political system, its tactics and forms are up datable.

1 The Constitution of the Russian Federation. Chapter 2. Article 31. Link: http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-03.htm. Last accessed: 13.04.2020. 2 Marc Bennetts. Alexei Navalny’s family accounts “blocked and left in the red”. The Times March 2020. Found at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/navalnys-bank-accounts-hit-with-fake-880-000-overdraft-vxwdhsg0d. Last accessed: 08.04.2020. 7

Which causes huge difficulties in dealing with protests. Its importance in evaluating of country’s life is very high. Especially, Russia faced political protest participants’ increase and its modern forms.3 Object. Role of political movement and Political protests in Russia for 2019 year. Goal. To analyze the role of the use of modern political protest forms in Russia. Tasks: 4. To determine the theories and the basic concepts of political protest and its forms. 5. To study the importance of modern forms of political protest and practice of protest. 6. Identify political protests in Russia for 2019 year and the government’s reaction. Methodology. The paper will be done by using quantitative research methods. Comparison, descriptive methods are going to be used. Quantitative research method is used to present articles about the topic. The comparison method is used to bring out the differences between traditional and modern forms of political protest as well as Western and Russian experience. The descriptive method will describe the problems identified and possible solutions. Literature and sources. The main used book for theoretical part is G. Robertson (2011). The Politics of Protest in Hybrid Regimes: Managing Dissent in Post-Communist Russia. New York: Cambridge University Press. In the book, relationship between the protest and political regime is used to explain the political protest concept. He took in consideration as three variables of the protest nature extent of political competition, government as organism, control of mobilization or demobilization. One of the main research articles used is “Contemporary forms of civil activity political process of Russia” by K. M. Sergeyevich. The article examines the features of modern forms of civil activity, their role in political process of the Russian Federation. The author distinguishes several correlated levels of civil participation with their inherent specific characteristics, which are the crucial element in the political process. For analysis used statistical date of Levada analytical center and Center for social and labor rights. Also, other books and scientific articles on the topic are used in this work, including found online. Structure. The bachelor thesis will include the introduction, three chapters, and the conclusion. The first chapter will introduce the research, concepts of Political protest. The second chapter will study

3 Ksenia Kirilova. Prospects of the Russian protest movement. Atlantic Council (Oct 2019). Link: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/issue-brief/prospects-of-the-russian-protest-movement/. Last accessed: 8.04.2020. 8 the relevance of modern political protest forms. The third chapter will identify the modern forms of political protest in Russia for 2019 year and state’s reaction to the opposition movements. Conclusion will cover the outcome of the research done.

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I. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF PROTEST

This chapter will be devoted to the consideration of this particular issue. Before proceeding to the consideration of the concepts of protest, we consider it is necessary to highlight the basic definitions of these terms by which we can combine the various terms used by the authors of these concepts.

1.1 Concept of Protest Protest attracts many researchers’ attention and many of them give description of a wide range of phenomena based on their own tasks. Especially, 21st century made protest more powerful within the globalization, technologies and spread of the information. In comes out that protest effect area is quite huge nowadays any time before as it reaches people in seconds throughout the internet. "Political protest" is often interpreted as a form of political participation. Therefore, there is the following definition of political protest: "political protest" is "a kind of political participation, expressed in the manifestation of a negative attitude towards the political system as a whole or to its individual elements, norms, values." decisions are made in an openly demonstrated form. The reasons for the protest behavior are deprecation, crisis of traditional norms, values of political culture, delegitimization of the political regime. Forms of political protest include: "rallies, demonstrations, marches, picketing, signing petitions, strikes, terrorism, etc."4 Student unrests, worker strikes, and national liberation revolutionary actions made the studies of protest more relevant in years. Political protests are a stimulator of socio-political changes, a way to detect and fix brewing contradictions and problems in society. Thus, they give a signal of trouble in society, revealing the causes of dissatisfaction and opposition of individuals and social groups. Each protest rally is a kind of signal on the need for political decisions, urgent measures to eliminate the causes of tension in society, to study the factors that generated protest activity. the conflict between the protesting in street and the authorities reveals deeper processes and faults that accompany modern development. On the one hand, this is a demand for a radical expansion of the public space for the development and implementation of government decisions, accompanied by a crisis of legitimacy not only authoritarianism, but also democratic representation, on the other hand, it is a real threat to the sustainable

4 Bert Klandermans, International Encyclopedia of the Social and behavioral Sciences (second edition) 2015, Collective action, p. 145-150. 10 development of modern political systems, and therefore the search for a political order that would be provided not so much with institutional certainty as with the conjugation of responsible statements and actions. According to the researcher M.V. Ilyin in modern political science there are two main approaches to understanding political protest: the first understanding comes from revolutionary attitudes, where the main emphasis is on illegality (non-conventional) protest actions, another understanding is the use of "voice" practices, where appealing to public opinion for clear injustice to try to restore the rule of law. On the other hand, this was facilitated by an increase in the number of protests in various countries, leading to a lingering socio-political situation, protracted conflicts, and in some cases even to the change of political regime. With another hand, you can periodically observe that manipulating this topic becomes an instrument in the hands of politicians and opinion leaders pursuing their own, narrowly corporate interests. It is hardly obvious that by a variety of factors, the number of manifestations protest and the diversity of its forms in modern society will only increase, which in turn increases demand reliable scientific knowledge about nature of this phenomenon. The difficulties in analyzing this problem lie in the insufficient development of the categorical apparatus, an abundance of concepts, as well as the dynamism of the object of study. And one of the most significant difficulties, in my opinion, is the ambiguity of understanding in political science the very original term "Protest", the interpretation of which at the moment diverges very significantly, complicating the formulation of some holistic generalizations and reasoned conclusions. Due to the complexity of understanding, considering the term protest necessary to trace the history of the appeal of socio-political thought to these basic categories. According to S. I. Ozhegov 5, the protest is a strong objection to something. In English literature, the term protest is used to mean a wide range of phenomena - from resistance to treatment or innovations up to a rebellious rush leading to political protest and revolution. Even these definitions show how multifaceted can be even the most general interpretation of the protest phenomenon. 6 The situation is further complicated by that for a sufficiently long time the holistic and systematic use of the term protest was not characteristic of socio-political science. It prompts to pay

5 Soviet linguist, lexicographer, doctor of philological sciences, professor. Author of many publications of the Dictionary of the Russian Language. 6 S. I. Ozhegov. Dictionary of the Russian language (Словарь Русского языка С. И. Ожегова). Soviet Union, (1949). 11 attention to us in our analysis and on those works in which issues in tune with protest: riots, rebellions, uprisings, and other phenomena. The first period, when relevant questions were raised in the works of representatives of socio- political thought, the era turned out to be ancient times. The two most mentioned its representatives, Plato, and Aristotle. They understood as protest actions of the unit societies aimed to change the political system, or to displace ruler, including, inter alia, gaining access to government. So, Plato, arguing about uprisings and coups, considered them as a manifestation of the conflict that occurs with the loss of consensus in the state about the "Blessing" (Blessing - the highest value in the state). Aristotle, appealing to the terminology of disturbances and coups d’état proceeded from the fact that a change is possible in the state the power that inequality provokes in property or privileges, prompting the need for rebellion in people.7 we can think, Plato and Aristotle understood protest as an expression of indignation people who disagree with the lack of equal access to any benefits. The qualitatively new stage in understanding the phenomenon of protest appears in the writings of Karl Marx, who wrote that the very dynamics of social development due to a conflict between productive forces and w relationship. For K. Marx conflict (revolution, protest) carries a positive content. Only through conflict can go to a higher level of social development. He claimed what is the class that will come to power in the course of the revolution, should establish a dictatorship and thus withdraw society to a new, better, level. Political protest has a dynamic function. In the Marxist definitions, the general ability of political protest to more quickly move social development and implement social changes is correctly noted. The measured, smooth flow of social life, where there are no radical transformations at all, and minor changes do not affect the essence of the problems, unfolds slowly in time, as if reluctantly. But it is worth in one form or another to manifest itself in a protest action as everything comes into motion. Habitual norms of behavior and activity, satisfying people for years, are discarded with amazing determination and without any regret. Under the blows of pro-test stocks, the company can transform beyond recognition, both in positive and negative terms. Accordingly, we highlight the characteristic features that are inherent in destructive political protests. Firstly, violent political protests can threaten the integration of society, destroy the existing socio-political structures, create a high level of tension in the country, and cause a split in society.

7 Cohen, Jean L, & Arató, András. (1997). Civil society and political theory (Studies in contemporary German social thought). Cambridge (Mass.) London: MIT Press.P. 83-85. 12

Secondly, they can lead to a slowdown in the pace of socio-economic and political development of society, cause stagnation and crisis of the social system, and curtail all previously conducted democratic transformations. Thirdly, political protests contribute to the violation of the moral principles of an individual or social group, the formation of a person's feelings of hatred and desire for revenge, as they are accompanied by physical and psychological violence, a huge number of victims. Fourth, persistent obstacles appear in the way of their possible resolution, and protest can lead to destructive conflicts. Later, already in the twentieth century, the topic of protests in social science and humanities received a new impulse in development. The study of political protest in modern social science is classified as a kind of "non-traditional" forms of political behavior. As a phenomenon, political protest is complex and multifaceted, so there are many groups of theoretical concepts in the scientific literature related to the study of political protest. At this stage, there are studies in various fields, including conflictology and sociology of social movements, which are closely related to existing theoretical models that explore political protest in the context of political science: its forms, factors of emergence and development. It should be noted that in the concepts considered by me, the protest as a whole understood and recognized as natural and an integral part of public and political life. The fact that what most authors see as the reason protest issues of inequality and lack of justice in society. For them, inequality can be expressed in different ways and have its own characteristics, but it is precisely it gives rise to public discontent and ultimately leads to protests. Moreover, in the structure of the protest and as its core leader capable of giving protest organization and dynamics. Also, in the evolution of views on the nature of the protest can be traced and a certain watershed in the understanding that such a protest. There is an important change in approach to protest: now this is not so much action, against power how much actions by which society trying to influence power. True the reason for this change in outlook on the essence of the protest is difficult for us to call, but the statement seems very reliable that in connection with the specifics of social transformations the XX and 21st centuries has been demonstrated at least the controversy of the thesis that a change of power will solve the problems that exist in a particular society. Perhaps that is why it has changed not only the understanding of the term of the protest but also the idea of the protest. Now most protests are not aimed at changing power, they are aimed at making power to work in the interests of the society.

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The protest is a multifaceted phenomenon. The complication of socio-political and economic relations in society the nature of protest is transforming. At each stage of social development, the result is a complication of internal constructions, protest becomes the emergence of its various theories. In some of these, the authors use the term protest, some do not, but all they contribute to its deep understanding. This deeper understanding can help authorities to be more responsive to protests and improve communication system with society and its individual representatives.8 Based on the concepts considered, "political protest" is a set of active (strikes, rallies) and passive forms (absenteeism) of political behavior, which can be expressed in both conventional (demonstrations) and in non-conventional (terrorism) forms. Political protest can be carried out both in an open demonstrative form (public burning of the party ticket) and in a veiled (implicit) form (Moscow guerrilla conceptualism). There may also be a different number of protesters, the protest can be mass, group, solitary. The message of political protest can be mass, authored and anonymous. The main link is the existence of a negative message towards the political system as a whole or to its individual elements, norms, values, and decisions taken by the apparatus of power.

1.2 Theories of protest A well-established view is to consider political protest within the framework of Western theories of social movements, which were actively developed in the 1960s. they can be divided into three theoretical paradigms: Collective behavior, resource mobilization (collective action), identity (new social movements) paradigms.9 The increasing complexity of the modern political world requires a study of protest from a variety of conceptual positions. In the 1960s and 70s, Western scientists explained the socio-political protest on the basis of a set of theories such as theories of collective behavior and theories of resource mobilization (including the concept of “political opportunities”). Modern studies of protest are mainly moving within the framework of these theories, trying to fix and explain new phenomena. These include an increase in the protest activity of the middle class in non-competitive regimes and the spread of soft protest in the old democracies. A specific challenge for classical theories was the refutation of the hypothesis that the economic and social stabilization of society

8 Sulakshin S.S., Khvylya-Olinter N.A. Article: Политический спектр и политическая температура как модель изучения социальных процессов for SOTIS - social technologies and research. - 2014. P. 76-85. 9 Imhonopi, David & Onifade, Adenike & Urim, Ugochukwu, Collective Behavior and Social Movements: Conceptual Review. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences 2013. Vol.3. p. 76-85. 14 should objectively reduce the motivation for protest, and not contribute to building frustration. In non- competitive modes, researchers are focusing on new communication technologies, new media, and social networks. 10 According to proponents of the paradigm, "protest" is interpreted as one of the types of collective behavior. Collective behavior is characterized by spontaneity, lack of a clear organizational structure, uncontrollability. It expresses an irrational, destructive and reactive beginning. In addition to social movements, the kinds of collective (mass) behavior include fashion, panic, riots, rebellions, revolutions. A multifaceted and complex form of collective behavior is a social movement. Social movements are seen as temporary indicators of the structural tensions of society (spontaneous emergence of movements as a response to a problem) that are discharged in collective behavior, through short-term protests and the subsequent restoration of the normal functioning of society. Thus, G. Lebon, G. Tard and G. Bloomer refer the social protest to a socio-psychological phenomenon, and its essence is defined in the psychology of the crowd and the masses, and the very concept of "protest" is equated with "crowd". According to this approach, collective behavior is a form of political struggle. It is assumed that people included in the crowd act in this way because of dissatisfaction with the political system. From the position of this concept, it turns out that people gather in a crowd at a time when authorized actions can no longer change the existing situation (as a last attempt to influence the problem). When institutional methods of influence do not help, people try to get attention to their own opinions in this way. Speaking of the theory of collective behavior as a political protest, I would like to note the following. On the one hand, one cannot fail to notice the factual basis behind it: the majority of the groups that are formed do act because of dissatisfaction with the political system existing in society today. But, on the other hand, in the framework of this theory, it is impossible to consider such a crowd as, for example, teens going to tease a "nerd." It could explain that sanctioned country is punished by the countries join the sanction as well, even though some of those countries just follow others. Collective action includes the theory of resource mobilization, which is understood as "the process by which a group receives and uses resources to achieve its goals." Resources can be external or internal, different researchers give priority to different resources.

10 Savenkov R.V., Scheglova D.V. RUDN Magazine of Political Science, 2018. P. 555-563. 15

Mixed - in the post-industrial society, according to the development models of the organization of the movement "bottom" or "top", by types of recruitment individual and group, by the prevailing type of resources used external and internal, by the structure of political opportunities as one of the determining factors of the creation of movements. For example, in societies with an open political structure such as the USA, movements are reformist (pro and anti-abortion movements, anti-nuclear movement), and with a more closed structure - revolutionary nature.11 Since economic benefits are limited, they are governed by collective action. Collective action creates rights and responsibilities regarding property and freedoms, without which Anarchy would rule in society. Institutional economy gives collective action its own place in conflict resolution and maintaining order in a world of limited resources, private property, and contradictions. According to Meyer, followers of Resource Mobilization Theories believe that protest appears only in the formation of economic, political, and organizational opportunities to mobilize existing discontent. New opportunities for the protest action materialize into the resources of the social movement.12 I would agree with his approach as without resources to reach an effective protest with expected outcome is at least seems very difficult. The key concept of resource mobilization has become the “structure political opportunities”- a group of resources that determine the likelihood of the emergence of social movements, their forms of activity and effectiveness. S. Tarrow proposed to include in the structure of political opportunities only those characteristics of the political regime that can actually be used by movements to achieve goals and mobilize support. The American sociologist identifies four groups of indicators of the structure of political opportunities: 1) the level of access for new actors to the political system. 2) Evidence of restructuring of political forces. 3) The existence of the movement’s allies within the political system. 4) Show up of break out between elites.13

11 Christophe Aguiton. Альтернативный глобализм: Новые мировые движения протеста. Гилэя (2004). P. 207-209. 12 Meyer D.S. Protest and Political Opportunities. Annual Review of Sociology. 2004; P. 125-145. 13 Tarrow S. Power in Movement. Social Movement and Contentious Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2011. P. 354. 16

Modern followers of theories of "resource mobilization" focus on the type of political regime, which includes an assessment of party and electoral systems, an analysis of political opportunities for protest action. In the so-called “old” democracies, a “soft,” conventional protest spreads. The focus of the protest researchers' attention was on new media structures and social networks on the Internet, which are often a key resource for organizers of protest actions. The nature of social identity and the features of its formation are interesting not only theoretically, but also in practical terms since determining the logic of the selection of research funds in the framework of this issue, and also allow a deeper understanding of the specifics of the relationship of person and society. T. Parsons described individual identity as a system of codes, whereby personal meanings are symbolized (through language, values, etc.) and determine the social actions of the subject. The concept “Identity" refers, according to the sociologist, to two interrelated aspects of the individual’s position in society: knowledge of the system in which a person, and understanding that there are a norm and a problem of self-determination and an individual's place in the normative space. In this context, identity is not a state, but a structural characteristic of a person.14 Identity paradigm, itself analysis modern society and the need for new forms of social movements. Since, people’s identity is being easy to access nowadays, in the ways of Feminism, LGBT, Identity paradigm suits in the analysis of the modern forms of political protests. Values of social movements as a new model are guided by problems: ecology, territorial community, individual lifestyle, autonomy, identity, denial of the dominant values of modernization. The approach to problems is based on post-industrial values that go beyond previous movements and make noticeable changes in their form of expression of political protest.

1.3 Traditional forms of protest To consider political protest as the result of a conflict of political interests, itself protest has many different forms to be expressed. Political protest, which was initially carried out in the physical space (meetings, strikes) can go into the information (coverage of rallies, proclamation of protest opinion), and then into the cognitive space in which the happening proof and perpetuating the illegitimacy of power.

14 Parsons T. Система современных обществ. Aspect-Press, (1998). P. 270. 17

Also, protest can be artificially created in the information space, which can serve as a factor of instability in society and transfer the area of protest to the streets (physical), and later will be fixed in cognitive. If political protest is fundamentally entrenched in the cognitive space of society, then from the cognitive space political protest can easily enter the physical and then the information space. 15 The following groups of forms of political protest can be identified based on the methodological concept of the typology of political participation of the American political scientist W. Milbright.16 Conventional forms of political protest of low level of political activity: Mass - protest absenteeism of society (massive reluctance to participate in elections), participation in virtual groups of social networks protest orientation. Individual - silence, reading of opposition media, comments in blogs, electronic media, social networks expressing dissatisfaction with the government. Non-conventional forms of low-level political protest: Mass - signing petitions, appeals to the authorities, participating in I-mob. Individual - opposition appeals on social networks. Anonymous - opposition appeals on social media without giving a real name. Conventional forms of mid-level political protest: Mass – voting. Individual - creating an opposition blog on the Internet. Anonymous - creating opposition content on the Internet without giving a real name. Non-conventional forms of mid-level political protest of non-violent activity: Mass - participation in unauthorized demonstrations, rallies, strikes, flash mobs, smart mobs, political mobs, socio-mobs, art mobs, participation in mass "dying" action, participation in sit-in demonstrations, participation in "Kiss in", boycott. Individual - hunger strike announcement, participation in a solitary action "dying". Anonymous - creating extremist content on the Internet. Highly conventional forms of high-level political protest: Mass - participation in opposition parties, participation in opposition rallies. Individual - appeal to the authorities or to their representatives. Non-conventional forms of high-level political protest: Mass violent - participation in the seizure of buildings, uprisings, revolutions, participation in road closures. Mass non-violent - participation in sabotage, participation in "work-to-rule". Individual violent - single terrorist act. Individual non-violent: non-payment of taxes. Anonymous nonviolent - participation in nano-rallies.

15 Dennis Chong, International Encyclopedia of the Social and behavioral Sciences (second edition) 2015, Political Protest and Civil Disobedience, p. 421-426. 16 Milbrath L.W. (1981) Political Participation. In: Long S.L. (eds) The Handbook of Political Behav ior. Springer, Boston, MA. P. 197-240. 18

In addition to the above, political protests can be: conservative - supported by the government (protests against gay parades in Russia), neutral or social (protest against flashing lights and for equality on the roads) and opposition (actions protest for "fair elections").

1.4 Reasons for protest First of all, it is the organization. Like any public event, a protest must be planned and organized by someone, but It is impossible to take people to the streets without the real discontent of the population. American researcher D. Davis argued that revolutions occur after long-term economic growth that ends stagnation. While the economic expectations of citizens increase, the real situation remains the same or even worsens. As a result, citizens are dissatisfied and show their aggression in the political sphere.17 In accordance with this, it can be assumed that, on the one hand, the poorest and, on the other, the most affluent segments of the population will not take part in mass protests. Because, their time and energy go to life support, and as they have the opportunity to solve their problems without participating in mass actions. As a result, a potential protest group consists of people who are not too rich but already have a certain income. They have the time, strength, and psychological disposition to openly oppose the authorities. Even though D. Davis's theory can be criticized, it explains an extremely important aspect of protest behavior - the socio-ethical or psychological one. Naturally, the causes of revolutions using this theory alone are extremely difficult to explain. However, the ideas of D. Davis may be well used in the study of various aspects of protest movements or local unrest. Moreover, the protester may have objectively good living conditions, however, comparing someone’s position with that of representatives of another social group based on own ideas about justice, may have some concerns. High level in turn frustration, accordingly, could lead to increased aggression in politics, including in the form of protest moods or even unrest. In addition to the model proposed by D. Davis, identified two more forms of relative deprivation: decreasing opportunities while maintaining expectations and aspiring: maintaining opportunities with increasing expectations.18

17 Hauman, G. (1998). Davis Darien J. Slavery and Beyond: The African Impact on Latin America and the Caribbean 1995 Scholarly Resources, Inc. Chicago, and London xxvi 301. Bulletin of Latin American Research, 17(2), P. 109. 18 Selle P. J-кривая Дэвиса. Когда произошла революция? // Теория и методы современной научной науки: Первая попытка теоретического синтеза (J- curve of Davis). С. У. Ларсен. РОССПЭН 2009. P. 371-387. 19

These include great famine and great discontent. Other causes of riot may be religious innovations, taxes, changes in laws and customs, privilege violations, general oppression, exaltation of people unworthy or aliens, wickedness, dissolved after the campaign soldiers, the reckless claims of any of the parties - in a word, everything that, provoking discontent, rallies unite the people in common cause. The main engine of rebellion is a sense of fear. That discontent is the most dangerous, in which fear is stronger than other feelings. The main cause for dissatisfaction is the economic reasons: the decline in living standards, unemployment, the abolition of benefits, etc. Moreover, the experience of many countries indicates that socio-economic crises can contribute to protest social mobilization or serve as a "trigger", but mass protests arise only in cases where they coincide with periods of serious political instability and uncertainty. Socio-economic crises, apparently, lead to limited and grassroots mobilization, while systemic political conflicts are becoming widespread. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between different protest triggers and be aware of the threshold of collective patience and test potential. Although these thresholds are determined by the characteristics of each country and era, we know that they are associated with the level of political trust and support of individual politicians and political institutions. This underlines the importance of analyzing the trend of declining confidence in politicians and government institutions. In addition, the well-known cases of mass social mobilization indicate that the threshold of patience of the population most often comes when the rights and freedoms recognized by people are threatened, and ordinary people who have not previously taken part in any actions join the ranks of protesters. One of the most radical approaches suggested K. Marx: not only social behavior and psychology determined by the economy, but the economy itself is a determined mode of production and the level of development of industrial relations. Marxism considers all riots exclusively from the point of view of the revolutionary process and the change of production method to more progressive.19 Nowadays, mass actions are very common and appearing on a piece of daily news as often as a weather forecast. Reasons mentioned above are more likely the history of the protest while in the 21st century to move people is relatively very easy using the Internet which considers different use. However, it causes lots of problems for the authorities in their point of view.

19 Dan Little. Marx’s theory of political behavior. Blog on Understanding Society, Jun 2019. Link: https://understandingsociety.blogspot.com/2009/06/marxs-theory-of-political-behavior.html. Last accessed: 17.04.2020. 20

Most serious reasons to protest which involves huge mass are social contact, the standard of living conditions/life, unemployment rate, and the main one is corruption. Last, is a reason for mass protests in many countries, such as Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, even in the U.S. There is another factor contributing to the growth of protest moods in society. This is the development of the Internet and social networks. Communications makes real-time information on quality and living standards in the world's richest economies available to an expanding circle of users from developing countries. And since everything is evaluated in comparison, in people who are in less comfortable living conditions, these comparisons cause a feeling of dissatisfaction. Through the Internet and cell phones, flash mob campaigns are held, group leaders are trained in the most effective methods of protest, and the use of so-called carnival technologies. Social networks contribute to the consolidation and organization in real life of a protest, and regardless of whether these protests are provoked by someone or appear spontaneously. As we know, it was social networks that played an active role both in the London riots and in the awakening of protest sentiments in Arab countries. The Internet and other information technologies have become a field and tool for individual citizens to mobilize resources and organize themselves, regardless of the will of their superiors. It turned out that a computer plus a mobile phone and even a telephone is a powerful means of communication and self-organization, both pro-test and creative, constructive. Globalization brought to the world many solutions together with massive new problems such as global warming/climate change, market and labor issues, environmental problems. I would say the media made organizing protests simple and fast that nowadays people are protesting for animal rights while still in the world human rights are not followed properly. Chart 1. Global protests increase in percentages by region.

2009-2019 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00%

Source: “The Age of Mass Protests: Understanding an Escalating Global Trend” by S.J. Brannen. C.S Haig and K. Schmidt, 2020. 21

II. MODERN FORMS OF POLITICAL PROTEST

The emergence of new social movements in Western Europe in the late 1960s. was due to the disillusionment of society in the existing ideals, values, practices and institutions of industrial society and the emergence of a "new form of non-freedom in the form of comfortable total slavery." This worldview arose in the wake of the crisis of "traditional" Western liberal democracies, Western European student riots and the emergence of the black civil rights movement in the United States.

2.1 Evolution of the modern forms of political protest The formation of a consumer society in Western Europe and the United States absolutized the idea of freedom from state regulation of the economy and traditional forms of dormitories and brought to the cult the idea of personal freedom and absolute equality, which served as a matter of intellectual challenge to capitalism as a whole. Thus, the ideologue and one of the leaders of social movements Herbert Marcuse noted that "capitalism was untenable and became a brake on progress.20 The changed conditions of society revealed new forms of struggle and values, which led to the emergence of "new leftists" (New social movements), which reinterpreted the protest practice of the traditional left (socialists, communists) and, continuing to use traditional forms of political protest (strikes, pickets, seizure seizing buildings) began to actively introduce non-violent forms of political protest into practical activities. Y. Habermas in the 1970s. talk about the emergence of a "crisis of legitimization" of the system of power. But the emergence of new conflicts in the system of power- society in advanced countries, also, he attributed "mostly to the sphere of material production" and assumed that they "were not the result of the activities of parties and organizations, but arose in the spheres of cultural reproduction, social integration and socialization" and expressed in sub institutional and extra-parliamentary forms of protest.21 Sandor Wei in the book "Cyberactivism: Online activism in Theory and Practice" classifies the activities of Internet activists in more detail and delineates it into three main groups: First, Awareness and Propaganda. Second, Organization and Mobilization.

20 Herbert Marcuse. Contemporary social theory: Beyond the consumer society. Current Perspectives in Social Theory (208) P. 235-260. 21 C. Cronin (trans.), Political Communication in Media Society: Does Democracy Still Have an Epistemic Dimension? The Impact of Normative Theory on Empirical Research. In Europe: The Faltering Project. Cambridge: Polity. P. 138–183.

22

Third, Action and Reaction. In the history of the protest movement, its traditional forms of manifestation, such as rallies, strikes, pickets, demonstrations. However, today new, previously unused ways of expressing dissatisfaction are added. These forms are called spectacular forms, these include flash-mobs, happenings, performances that in modern society get more and more widespread. Flash-mob is a backlash of society on the prevailing culture of modern of the world. Rationalization, routinization, normalization, systematic life of modern man - this is the main reason for this phenomenon. Flash-mob is a protest of simple people (not some separate group of deviants), namely a representative of the middle class. Flash-mob is not a dangerous asocial phenomenon since its participants do not put forward any requirements and almost do not violate any laws. Distinctive features of these types of protest are the lack of authorities’ permission need to organize such actions, and also a guide to a greater extent on media, not mass protests. Even though the goals of such events are quite often not formulated as specific requirements of political transformations, certain techniques exist, and tactics used in the process of their implementation which gaining high popularity. Most researchers consider them so-called carnival, with its characteristic external attributes (bright colors and shock-clothing styles, clown makeup, etc.), whose purpose is to make fun of and the absurdity of reality. The use of these techniques (carnival inversion, subversive affirmation, parody, etc.) does not just draw the attention of society to existing flaws in the political system but also, they put the authorities in a rather “uncomfortable” situation. Analysis of spectacular forms of protest allows us to highlight their main advantages. These include a high level of organization and profitability, through relatively small costs, as human, financially, media is achieved, which allows protesters to express themselves and attract the attention of the public to certain social and political issues. At that, while it is necessary to note the destructive nature of such forms of protest, after all, by criticizing and ridiculing power, protesters do not put forward justified requirements and do not offer alternative solutions to relevant problems.22 Besides, spectacular form protests are focused on pretty narrow circles of the public, mainly those are urban youth with higher education and students. Should note that despite enough high level of

22 Platonova Olesya Aleksandrovna. Танцевальный флешмоб как социокультурное явление: экранный образ и внеэкранная реальность. TV Science 2017. P.39-54. 23

"technological", modern forms of protest (flash-mobs, happenings, and performances) are nevertheless a kind of curiosity against the background of traditional forms of expression of protest. Several years ago, a new type of protest activity is emerging in social interaction - the virtual type, which, of course, is associated with the emergence of new communication, followed by organizational networks. They were still poorly distributed but are already beginning to play the role of new collective mobilization channel actions. These are social networks based on Internet technologies, primarily Facebook, Twitter and Vkontakte, which, as international and Russian experience shows, can quite effectively play the role of channels of involvement in protest activities and broadcasts organizational innovation protest, thereby expanding the repertoire of the protest movement used by various civil and political actors. An example of this type abroad an active youth movement, which is the initiator of revolutionary events in Egypt is about “April 6” youth movement23, the Facebook page which was used to distribute the primary information and coordinates of activists of protest movements. It is important to note, what is the internet integration influence rate in Egypt proved to be sufficient for the masses of people to withdraw to the streets and paralyze the response of the authorities. An important fact is that the potential of modern information technology capable under appropriate conditions, mobilize the masses for a fairly short time and create almost "out of nothing" active youth groups. The spread of modern forms of protest activity typical for regions with a high concentration of the population and a significant share of the young generation in it. Due to its socio-demographic characteristics, Young people are most susceptible to changes in various spheres of life, especially to manifestations of injustice by various structures. It should be noted that the young generation is characterized by an innovative approach to solving this kind of problems. An important factor for the introduction of new forms of protest, in particular, the virtual type is the technical equipment and literacy of the population, since only with the availability of modern means of communication and skills with their treatment appears the possibility of expressing protest intentions in this way.24

23 Its facebook group link: https://www.facebook.com/pg/April-6-Youth-Movement- 199378773499996/about/?ref=page_internal. 24 Olga Xvostunova. Молодеж на Московских протестах. Atlantic Council Oct 2019. Link: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/commentary/long- take/%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%B6%D1%8C-%D0%BD%D0%B0- %D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D1%85- %D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%85/. Last accessed: 17.04.2020. 24

The improvement, accessibility and simplification of communication technologies through the Internet has affected the public's perception of traditional media and abolished their privileged position, which has led to a reorganization of audience activity concerning the media and to revise the rules on its consumption. These trends have been a source of increased information and expansion of the sphere of activity, as the modern audience is not only a consumer but also a co-author of texts delivered to a wide audience. As well as the emergence of the phenomenon of tactical media and the development of media activism.25 Memes that create public resonance and reflection by media activists are spread through tactical media. Tactical media is what happens when groups or individuals who feel excluded or disadvantaged by a broad culture start using cheap - do media that has been opened by the revolution in consumer electronics and expanded distribution (from public cable TV to the Internet). Among activists, it is media activists who are most interested in creating a picture of the world, which admits that a tiny but inventively constructed and widespread virus may well depose such well- established ideological systems like organized religion and deep-rooted institutions such as, say, the Republican Party or even the entire two-party system as a whole. A media virus like any other protest message can be designed to fight against a political party, religion, social institution, economy, all sorts of business and even a whole worldview. Art activism is inherently the result of a conflict of political interests and is expressed through a protest message - a work of art. The emergence of art activism itself can have completely different causes, the aggressiveness of financial capital against the "weak", poorly calculated and implemented bills and reforms, degrading states and local communities, the presence of aggressive masses, the disillusionment of society in the model of representative democracy. The form of expression of art activism displayed through the protest message - its volume, and the surface of the areas occupied by the message increases during periods of social and political transformation. Art activism or activist art is closely related to the term political art.26 Along with Art activism comes graffiti which is mainly illegal. Generally, it is used as a tool for visualizing political views in the form of art on the street walls or car, similar surface.

25 Jost, John & Barberá, Pablo & Bonneau, Richard & Langer, Melanie & Metzger, Megan & Nagler, Jonathan & Sterling, Joanna & Tucker, Joshua. (2018). How Social Media Facilitates Political Protest: Information, Motivation, and Social Networks: Social Media and Political Protest. Political Psychology. P. 85-118. 26 Paul Hanley. The role of “Hacktivism” in Modern Politics. Northeastern University (2011). Link: https://www.nupoliticalreview.com/2011/11/03/the-role-of-%E2%80%9Chacktivism%E2%80%9D-in-modern-politics//. Last accessed: 17.04.2020. 25

Also, I would consider terrorism as a form of political protest. Terrorism violates the system of the legal protection of a person, causing great damage to the stability of the world community, state interests, and in particular the prestige of the law enforcement system. Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and its scale and intensity, in its inhumanity and cruelty, has by now become one of the most acute and topical problems of global significance. Activists are also actively using electronic tactics to violate civil disobedience online, which consists of capturing government websites, downloading malware, distributing electronic petitions. All this is done in protest or in a call for political change. Today, the implementation of political practices on the Internet is an established environment for policy actors to engage in political protest in a variety of ways and manifestations. Internet activism is a sphere where power and influence struggle shall be fought through information and communication computer networks Most relevant modern form of political protest in this research is media activism which leads to the traditional forms of the protest such as strikes, movements and terrorist attacks. Also, art activism takes a role as it uses the indirect forms of messaging the protest.

2.2 The role of media in protest Always changing situation in various areas of social life necessitate the development of new forms of political activity. Moreover, there is more and more in the world citizens becomes dissatisfied with the established "rules of the game" by politicians, prevailing norms pursued by the political course, etc. Modern political life is inseparable from the media that operate on the Internet. Considering the political culture requires special attention to the issue of the influence of the media, in particular, operating in the information and telecommunications network "Internet". The media as a subject of social development affect the functioning and stability of the political system, as well as society. The media quickly respond to challenges and responds to processes that occur in the state and society, and also affect the population, covering the events from the standpoint of their own political vision. It is on the rhetoric and basic ideas of information messages that the actions of political actors depend - electoral activity, protest mood, etc. The first experiments involving active citizens using technology emerged in 1980, even before the Internet existed. has led to the emergence of a new political actors on the international scene.

26

The improvement, accessibility and simplification of communication technologies through the Internet has affected the public's perception of traditional media and abolished their privileged position, which has led to a reorganization of audience activity in relation to the media and to revise the rules on its consumption. These trends have been a source of increased information and expansion of the sphere of activity, as the modern audience is not only a consumer, but also a co-author of texts delivered to a wide audience. As well as the emergence of the phenomenon of tactical media and the development of media activism.27 On such background, naturally, new social structures are being created, who seek to assist citizens in satisfying their legitimate rights and interests. The use of mass media promotes such structures attract a significant number of supporters, which forms their potential to influence the socio-political situation. New public associations usually do not have a clear structure, a characteristic feature of which is decentralization, based on a common interest and authority. Internet activism is socially oriented programming or activism involving electronic communication technologies (e-mail, online projects, podcasts, mobile apps, social networks, blogs, etc.) where the Internet is used as an alternative platform for civil initiatives, as well as for quickly alerting citizens to activity and displaying and sharing certain information to a wide audience. Communications are also a spatial continuum of Internet activists The development of the Internet creates additional opportunities for opponent campaigns. In this regard, it should be noted growth in the number of Internet users in Russia. The Internet promotes the formation of a new communicative space using the new IT-technologies. At the same time, the increasing interest in political activity of Russian citizens on the Internet. Internet as an applied political tool. Through Networks, people receive, share, and create information, as well as community "by interest". With the help of IT-technologies, a new communicative space, with its own channels and transmitters, features and problems. The Internet from the environment of leisure turns into the platform on which real political battles. As a result, a new socio-political phenomenon is being formed -online political protest, a new form and content activity of citizens.28

27 Jost, John & Barberá, Pablo & Bonneau, Richard & Langer, Melanie & Metzger, Megan & Nagler, Jonathan & Sterling, Joanna & Tucker, Joshua. (2018). How Social Media Facilitates Political Protest: Information, Motivation, and Social Networks: Social Media and Political Protest. Political Psychology. P. 85-118. 28 A. V. Sokolov. Сетовой политический протест в России: субьекты, тенденции, тезнологии. Doctoral dissertation, The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (2018). 27

The only case where media structures can work effectively is the existence of an external, pre- built environment that allows you to quickly distribute commands and information. As a rule, the role of such an environment is played by traditional media or social networks. As an example, we can take protests around Moscow city Duma elections in 2019. In general, only a strong political environment that can quickly convey to different segments of the network structure what, where and how to do it, turns even an extremely ineffective media structure itself into a powerful political tool. Thus, all network structures are not capable and not created upon to develop and make a common strategic decision. In the case of Russia, it would not suit the explanation as Media is controlled and used in the interests of authorities.29 Their goal is to implement a strategy set from the outside. At the same time, each segment of the network structure is free and must independently seek out tactical decisions that, in its specific conditions, are most effective for achieving strategic goals. In Russia’s case, the best example is Aleksei Navalny and his website “www.navalny.com”. He is one of the main opposition players in Russia. He leads the political party “Россия будущего” (Russia of the future). Also, he uses actively social media to reach his followers, such as YouTube, Facebook. Instagram.30 Using the social websites, he encourages people to attend political meetings, protests and join petitions. The accessibility of the audience has become very easy and quick with the communication technologies. The speed and technologies of “digitalization of everything” contribute significantly to the intensive changes in the value priorities and lifestyle of the digital generation. Massive demand for minimalism, environmentalism, sharing, communication, and mobility without borders was hardly possible in the digital era. The effects of the digital age are changing consumer strategies, social structure and institutions of society, prioritizing the enjoyment of life as opposed to parental strategies for owning property, stimulating the development of new economic formats: “trust economy”, “attention economy”, “impression management”, etc. The simplicity and speed of searching for like-minded people, on the one hand, the mobilization capabilities of the Internet and mobile technologies, on the other hand, contribute to the large-scale transfer of civil society and political practices in the online space, which allows endowing the digital

29 Mikhail Rubin, Maria Zholobova, Roman Bandanin. The man behind the Kremlin’s control of the Russian media. Investigation for OCCRP 2019. Link: https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/the-man-behind-the-kremlins-control-of-the- russian-media. Last accessed: 20.04.2020. 30 Opposition website. Address: https://navalny.com/about/. 28 generation with the features of “digital rebels”, expressing their political subjectivity and increased potential for influence on the squares of cities around the world. Defining the criteria for membership in the digital generation, it is necessary to indicate the main groundwork formed in the framework of sociological and political studies of digital citizens. The first and broadest interpretation belongs to Jared Cohen and Eric Schmidt, identifying membership in the “network club” or, in other words, the user status and digital citizenship [Cohen, Schmidt, 2013]. Despite its popularity, this version of the content of the concept of “digital citizens” is an object due to the fact that it does not take into account and does not describe user strategies. One of the hypotheses of an applied study of the culture of digital citizenship and the protest potential of Russian youth is the assumption that the digital generation in Russia is significantly differentiated by strategies of civil and political practices online, and roles in digital communications of a protest nature. They not only watch, read and discuss the political agenda but act online: recruit volunteers to participate in political events; blogging and addressing political issues in it; each - moderate the online political community; gather resources for political purposes. For example, Alexei Navalny actively uses social media for reaching his audience and promotes protests, meetings and strikes. His Youtube channel has more than 3.6 million followers and videos sometimes reach more than 30 million views such as the video “Don’t call him Dimon”. Video is about ex-prime minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and research done on his property and the ways he owns them and the sources of his income. Navalny does such researches quite often and usually, they become very popular and effective accepting the fact Medvedev’s administration was sent to retirement by Putin. It shows that the protest area is affected by the globalization and digitalization seriously. These factors give to politicians, activists a lot of opportunities if they are used efficiently and correctly. Media is one of the tools used in political protest following the theory of resource mobilization as it has the existing discontent transforming into a mass by uniting the opportunities and tools in mobilization. The Internet is both a powerful tool for interaction and an innovative space for this interaction. It is worthwhile to understand that any new space carries its own rules of interaction within it. In principle, due to the difference of these rules in virtual and physical spaces, a process such as digital transformation arises. Transformation is not just a story about the transition of everything to digital, but, overall, a new methodology of action, a new way of thinking.

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Now all modern socio-political processes are close or are already going through digital activation. This means that traditional actions adapt to the digital and network field of functioning. And from this it already appears that the attitude of the political to information is changing very much. The 21st century is not in vain called the century of informatization, and politics as a sphere of life has long been living in this paradigm. Actually, we can highlight the main features that appeared with the beginning of the widespread use of the Internet for politics: Information began to spread many times faster; The original source of information is often difficult to track. On the basis of this, fakes spread as a phenomenon of political manipulation. There was a lot of anonymity. Cyber-bullying, hackers, throws - these are all consequences of the possible anonymity of users. A large cosmopolitan identity of the Internet is being constructed, while the national segments of the network are still pronounced. In short, now the policy area has doubled, if not more, since all the processes that we are accustomed to, from national identification to public administration mechanisms, are undergoing a digital transformation. Thus, the political network is influenced by the Internet, on the basis of which social networks and electronic media operate, the main task of which is objective information support of the activities of government bodies and informing the public. However, the functioning of the official websites of government institutions and the current information policy, as well as the emergence of electronic media, still do not allow the government to be considered open to society. Administrative and political forces proclaim the openness of politics, but at the same time, the bureaucratic apparatus, ignoring the possibilities of information technology, does not ensure transparency of the political process.

2.3 Terrorism as a political action Terrorism, throughout the history of its existence, mankind has encountered various forms and manifestations of terrorism. This phenomenon reached a special scale at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st centuries. Unprecedented in their manifestation, scale and cruelty, terrorist acts and sabotage are widely resonated throughout the world, causing not only just indignation of the public, but also a serious fear for peace and security on the planet. Political violence in the modern world is appears in all its diversity skins and takes on increasingly radical extreme forms. Terrorism turned into one of the most acute global problems of our

30 time. During this period, it went beyond the national threat and acquired an international character in a globalizing world. In modern political science, terrorism is seen as a political act and politically motivated violence. A well-known researcher of terrorism from the point of view of criminology and the criminal law basis, Antonyan, Y. M. notes “Terrorism is a deterrence, it acts as a way to weaken the enemy by physical and mental influence on the opposing side”. Terrorism violates the system of legal protection of a person, causing enormous damage to the stability of the world community, state interests, and in particular the prestige of the law enforcement system. Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and in its scale and intensity, in its inhumanity and cruelty, has by now become one of the most acute and topical problems of global significance. The manifestations of terrorism entail mass casualties, the destruction of spiritual, material, cultural values, which is impossible to recreate for centuries. In addition, terrorism creates hatred and mistrust between social and national groups. These factors make the problem particularly acute and necessitate the creation of an international system to combat terrorism. 31 Studying and analyzing terrorist acts in different countries and regions of the world, the subjects of the fight against terrorism are faced with a special kind of criminogenic behavior, the personality of a person who, in order to achieve this goal, threatens the lives of tens, hundreds of random people. which also determines the relevance of the terrorism as protest form. The protest itself is the unconscious desire of youth to declare themselves, to say not only what they are, but also that they deserve a very significant place in society. All this is fertile ground for the use of these technologies, with the help of which they achieve a distorted idea of social reality. This is used in informational extremism, which is most often directed specifically at young people. After all, extremism is also aimed at overthrowing traditional values, which young people often strive to do in their criticism of the existing social reality. Thanks to this, individual young people are ready to respond to certain provisions proposed by informational extremism. This is the way terrorist attacks come from.32 By virtue of their position of maximalism and the desire for protest, these young people are ready to accept informational extremism, even despite the absurdity of certain provisions it proposes.

31 Antonyan, Y. M. (1998). Terrorism: Criminological and criminal law research. Moscow. (in Rus). P. 8. 32 Singach A. N. The Problem of the Prevention of Student Extremism in the Context of Psychological and Pedagogical Research. Vestnik Kemerovskogo gosudar-stvennogo universiteta kul'tury i iskusstv = Bulletin of Kemerovo State University of Culture and Arts, 2017, no. 41-2, pp. 194-198 (in Russian). 31

Thus, we can consider that terror is a method of political struggle used in all countries of the world by people who do not see a different way to change the existing order or oppose the government and the regime (the causes of terrorism may be economic (poverty), political (crisis), religious, territorial). Democracy as a political regime is unacceptable from the point of view of terrorists; it will give people in the Islamic world too much freedom in choosing development paths. This contradicts the ideals of obedience, religious dogmas, and the ideas of the legitimate rulers of eastern states. Perhaps that is why authoritarian regimes flourish there in a wide variety of forms (from eastern despots to military dictatorial regimes). It is possible to counteract and counter terrorism by not only destroying the militants, but also by neutralizing their financing channels, their military training bases and, of course, eliminating the causes of terrorist activity. This war often acquires an informational character in the media, as there are state governments that secretly support terrorists in order to realize their selfish goals and interests. The point of view of the American scientist of Iranian origin F. Moghaddam about the true causes of terrorism is interesting: he rightly believes that the manifestation of terrorism relates to the identity crisis of Islamic communities. These conditions give rise to terrorism for many reasons: civil, religious, nationalist, including ethnic. These sources of identity crisis are the way people live in developed countries. The USA and Western European countries broadcast their ideals, values of American youth and its lifestyle through modern media. This influence destroys centuries-old traditions in Muslim countries: women remove the veil, use makeup, work along with men, get higher education and drive a car. The USA is the main supplier of music, films, fashion for clothes, books and magazines, video games, online resources around the world. The so-called “import of values and behaviors” and their consolidation in the emerging “cultural vacuum” of the Islamic world. The leaders of terrorist organizations and sects most often recruit just ordinary people from the Islamic world (even women and adolescents) who are ready to die for a common and just goal. They are experiencing community “deprivation,” that is, pessimism associated with the disadvantaged position of his group in society. For example, a Muslim who has migrated to another (e.g., Catholic) country may experience deprivation due to the position of Muslims compared to other religious or social groups in that country. As a result of psychological research, it was proved that people who have experienced the negative impact of personal and community deprivation are the most likely candidates for participating

32 in mass collective anti-government actions or in terrorist acts aimed at trying to change the situation in the country. In many Islamic communities - both in Western and other - young people come to the realization that they begin to perceive themselves as belonging to the worth group with limited freedom.33 In addition to forceful actions, it should be embodied in the use of economic, political, social, and ideological mechanisms at the highest international level. However, it should be kept in mind that international terrorism always has national and religious roots.

33 Moghaddam F. M. (2011). From the terrorist point of view (Rus). Forum press. P. 26-28, 36-38. 33

III. POLITICAL PROTESTS IN RUSSIA DURING 2019

The relevance of the presented classification of social protests is due to the fact that in recent years in Russia, is pointed to a causal relationship between the growth of protest activity and the deteriorating economic situation, the state of social sectors and the content of state social policy in general. In particular, we are talking about the crisis state of the economy, rising food and fuel prices, problems in the housing and utilities sector, falling real incomes of the population, reducing staff and closing production, delayed wages, rising latent and real unemployment, unavailability of medical care for some segments of the population, low level of social security, pension reform.34

3.1 Political activity of citizens The 2019 year was full of protests in Russia. The words “fire” and “protest” were nominated as the words of the year by Pushkin State Russian language institute. As well as the most discussed topic was Pension reform35, which launched on January 1, 201936. It was the reason for strikes and rallies, and a petition with 2.979.870 supporters on change.org. A year ago, the domestic policy of Russia by many condemned, but the most favored external policy of the country and noted the importance that "Russia is fear". However, already in October a request for peace-loving foreign policy. The trend is also growing struggle for their rights by constitutional means. Among non-material assets of Russians in the first-place respect and haughty remarks of authorities on the ground make people feel more and more offended. It can be stated that people have changed.37 This request for respect and self-government growth, along with growing skepticism about Putin’s personality, increases as the standard of living of the population decreases the same as economic indicators. The situation is worsening by the fact that the authorities continuously let the people have a

34 Barbara Von Ow-Freytag. Russia’s social awakening: A new challenge for the EU. Carnegie Europe 2019. Link: https://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/78930. Last accessed: 15.05.2020. 35 O. M Andreevich, В Институте Пушкина назвали слово года (The Pushkin Institute called the word of the year) November 2019. Pushkin Institute news. Link: https://www.pushkin.institute/news/detail.php?ID=25143. Last accessed: 15.04.2020. 36 Federal law 350-ФЗ of Russian federation. Link: http://government.ru/activities/selection/525/34223/. Last accessed: 15.04.2020. 37 The first day of the 7th Forum of free Russia. Live Broadcast, Free Russia Forum, June 3, 2019. Link: https://www.forumfreerussia.org/multimedia / video-ffr / forum-vii-video / 2019-06-03 / pervyj-den-7-go-foruma-svobodnoj- rossii-pryamaya-translyatsiya / ffr /. Last accessed: 16.04.2020. 34 sense of lifelike locked in a sieged fortress. and thereby give a signal that improvement of life in the near future is not going to happen. In such a situation, the government should not be surprised by people's interest to protest. the Often, Russians hold solitary pickets, bypassing a law requiring permission to hold meetings of more than one person. Such a course in the future of 4–5 years is able to create a fully revolutionary situation which can't be prevented by fake rating growth rates", -warns Russian political scientist, sociologist and economist, director of the Center research of the post-industrial society Vladislav Inozemtsev. He notes that "stagnation in Russian the economy has become quite familiar, and it cannot overcome in the framework of the economic logic that since 2012, has the Russian elites." The main problem posed by this stagnation, the economist calls "people are getting tired of waiting for a better life".38 According to the results of sociological studies of the Levada-Center, in July 2018, for the first time since 2009, the probability of mass protests with economic demands exceeded the 40 percent threshold, and political ones reached 33%. Also, for the first time since 2009, a record number of citizens (25%) were ready to take part in protests with political demands.39 However, these are only official numbers, according to social media we can guess that much more people has a willing to change the current situation in Russia and would like to get higher life standards. Immediately after the May holidays, on May 13, in Yekaterinburg, mass protests began against the construction of the Church of St. Catherine at square close to the Drama Theater. On the fourth day of the protests, President Vladimir Putin said that the opinion of citizens should be taken into account. The governor of the Sverdlovsk region Kuyvashev and the head of Yekaterinburg, Vysokinsky, agreed with him. Construction works in the park were suspended, and in the City Duma created a special commission to address the issue of building the temple. Unfortunately, such a positive outcome of the protest is not often in Russia. Especially, considering the fact that even during these protests held to keep the square many people were arrested and fined.40

38 Vladislav Inozemtsev. On the verge of a revolution. Vladislav Inozemtsev on how the elites lost their sense of self- preservation. The Insider, June 10, 2019. Link: https://theins.ru/opinions/160359. Last accessed: 16.04.2020. 39 Leveda analytical center. Potential protest statistics on 06.03.2019. Link: https://www.levada.ru/2019/03/06/protestnyj- potentsial-8/. Last accessed: 15.05.2020. 40 BBC news. Yekaterinburg church protests: Putin calls for poll to solve row. 16 May 2019. Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48302241. Last accessed: 25.05.2020. 35

In recent years, political protests in Russia have often held without approval of the authorities. The most notable of these were anti-corruption protests by supporters of Alexei Navalny on Tverskaya Street, which ended in mass arrests twice. A new wave of public discontent, which in the last year was focused more on the construction of the rubbish dump and pension reform, was unexpectedly provoked the campaign before the elections to the Moscow City Duma. In summer, protests began in Moscow because of the refusal of the Moscow election commission to admit almost all opposition candidates to the Moscow City Duma as well as due to violations in the collected signatures. From July 14, actions began in support of unaccepted candidates. Since July 20, on weekends, protest rallies have been held, which, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, gathered up to 20 thousand people. The organizers talk about 50/60 thousand protesters, thousands of whom were arrested. The investigative committee of Russia opened a criminal case on the riots.41 The fact that commonly used in Western countries, people have the right to protest does not spread in Russia. The Russian government is seeking authority so much that they even use fabricated cases in order to get rid of the leaders of the opposition. Such an example is the arrest of Ivan Golunov. The case was set up without any organization which brought officials to close the case. First photos of drugs found in Golunov’s flat were posted by police but later they confirmed that those photos are the part of a different case.42 These actions show a low level of communications between authorities themselves which cannot friendly cooperate at least to protect their own interests. Elites give so many reasons to protest for civil society and they are surprised when people go to streets to protest and ask for changes, while propaganda repeats about high ratings of Putin between society. Russia is power and showing off almost every month different kind of new army arsenal for which millions from budget spent.43 Almost three-quarters of Russians believe that the interests of the authorities and the people do not match since the authorities are practically not interested in the lives of ordinary citizens. Almost half

41 Andrew Roth. Russian protesters demand end to political crackdown Sep 2019 Moscow. The Guardian. Link: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/29/russia-protesters-demand-end-to-political-crackdown. Last accessed: 15.04.2020. 42 Jim Heintz. Russians protest fabricated arrests after falsified case against journalist is dropped. Article in PBS journal Jun 2019. Link: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/russians-protest-fabricated-arrests-after-falsified-case-against-journalist- is-dropped. Last accessed 19.04.2020. 43 Jadwiga Rogoza. Cracks in the marble Russian’s trust in Putin on the decline. OSW Commentary March 2019. Document: https://www.osw.waw.pl/sites/default/files/commentary_297.pdf. 36 of Russians (45%) believe that law enforcement officers used force unreasonably when detaining protesters in Moscow during last summer, according to a Levada-Center poll received by Interfax.44 Use of power, arrests used by authorities against meetings and pickets which are mainly friendly and safe can be considered as a weakness of the Russian political system. Even though, this kind of tools used against own population did not stop people protesting and asking for their rights to be respected. The noticeable role of journalists is apparently explained by the fact that they were sensitive to the changes that take place, have a large number of different people, know and support each other. In addition, it seems that media representatives were able to so easily "impose" their assistance on the opposition, as they control the resource mandatory to have for any politician - access to his audience. As the interviews showed, civilians today are almost the only tool that allows you to somehow influence the Russian government and provides status among colleagues. According to the facts given above “today a leader is one who has a media resource”. The perfect example here would Golunov. With these statements, I want to show the biggest problem of Russia’s citizens. Russian government refuse except the existence of people’s choice, rights and wishes. Government fights with the protestors with like some disease instead of listening to them, collaborating. Following charts show the forms of political protest used in 2019 in numbers. Chart 2. The descriptive chart on protests held in 2018 and 2019, Russia.

Political Social Labor Other

1119 447 277 197 2019

722 962 200 299 2018

Source: Date of the report by the Center for Social and Labor Rights (CSLR).45

44 Levada center poll, Interfax Rus journal 2019. Link: https://www.interfax.ru/tags/%CB%E5%E2%E0%E4%E0- %F6%E5%ED%F2%F0. Last accessed: 19.04.2020. 45 Monitoring of Center for social and labor rights. Document: http://trudprava.ru/images/content/Monitoring_4_Quart_2019.pdf. 37

The chart 1 shows slight increase in numbers of political protest in the country, which tells about people’s willing to change political course of state and look for better conditions. The situation shows us the use of the collective behavior theory in action. As the government and politicians did not provide people what they need, now people are getting things in own hands in order to reach their own interests. Resource mobilization theory takes a role in the organizing movements and strikes through media as more and more citizens get information and join the strikes in the streets where we can see each like resource in mobilization as people supporting each other become more productive and efficient. According to K. Marx, such beginning and actions usually take a path into changes or revolutionary way, which also suits the exact fact that without changing politicians in charge and improving the institutions Russian citizens can’t reach what they want. However, in Russia’s case, this protesting mood of population did not formulate after being too long in increasing life conditions, it came at the point that people are fed up with waiting for changes. D. Davis’s formulation of relative deprivation, as people’s expectations have been decreasing year by year, the result is citizens dissatisfaction and show of their mood in the political sphere. The model where protest comes after long term economic growth does not follow up with the current atmosphere in Russia, as Russia have not been in such way even during Soviet times. At the point social problems of 2018 can take to the point as unsuccessful protests, and as people did not get to the changes, they turned into political changes, discontent in political sphere is formulated out of the problems in the other spheres. Identity paradigm also takes a part in Russia’s life. LGBT activists face strong confrontation of the Russian government in the law level which is followed with the Federal law about gay propaganda implemented in 2013 with the N 135-Ф3. The law considers the children protection from ideological attacks of the LGBT groups. In this case, government gets support by citizens who are also against LGBT. Society in this case is divided as not everybody wills to accept it. In the case of absenteeism. Currently, the refusal of young people to participate in political processes is becoming a popular trend. Due to its age, this social group is prone to actively expressing its own opinion, so the fact that today the lowest percentage of voters in the elections belongs to young people is an open paradox. The part of the younger generation not only does not vote, but, in principle, is not interested in the political life of the country. In this regard, the elections can be considered as the main catalyst for the civic activity of this population group. In this way, young people are trying to express their attitude to the ongoing socio-political and socio-economic processes. The presence of absenteeism among Russian youth is associated with the

38 instability of the socio-political situation within the country. There are many reasons for this: corruption in all branches of government; lack of jobs; low level of pensions, benefits, wages; high payments for utilities and much more. This all creates a sense of hopelessness, hopelessness among young people and undermines confidence in the electoral processes and the candidates nominated.

3.2 Opponents and Results Current Putin’s government is being in the rule for a long period without big changes. Especially, only the fact that Putin is a president of Russia since 2000, until nowadays, and with the just one term being prime minister during 2008-2012 while Medvedev changed him in order to change the constitutions and let Putin continuing being at his post.46 It is a long period for presidency and, during it appeared many opposition leaders. However, it did not cause a serious problem for Putin’s “Democracy”. One of the most famous and strong opposition leaders was Boris Nemtsov. He was very strict and straight in criticizing Putin and was involved in investigating Russia’s army integration into Ukraine. The fact that what his actions brought to him are known by all the world (He was killed), but nothing could change anything. Some countries named streets close to Russian embassies by the name of Boris Nemtsov for solidarity to his followers and each year people go on marches on his name in Moscow.47 Now, it is clear what happens to people who decides to cross the road for Putin, and it brightly show the situation in Russia. Fortunately, this does not stop people continuing the work Nemtsov started. Since his death, many opposition leaders appeared, and others decided to work harder. 2019 year was a slight progressive in Russia’s life for opposition and protestors. Nowadays, there are many opposition groups, such as “Left Front” – with the slogan socialism against Putin. This group is quite active in spearing their ideology though out the internet, using the website: leftfront.org. and Vkontakte, Twitter and many other social media which provides them immediate effect and increasing number of followers. This kind of opposition groups in Russia are more than 10, and they all use the modern technologies in reaching won goals and connecting with their audience. It makes the protest planning much easier than before.

46 D. Medvedev’s speech addressed to the federal assembly on Nov 5, 2008, Kremlin. Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20090831004530/http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2008/11/05/2144_type70029type82917t ype127286_208836.shtml. Last accessed: 20.05.2020. 47 Naira Davlashyan and Alice Tidey. Boris Nemtsov: Rally in Moscow to remember slayed Russian opposition leader. Euronews Feb 2020. Link: https://www.euronews.com/2020/02/28/five-years-after-boris-nemtsov-murder-west-demands- russia-identifies-culprit. Last accessed: 25.05.2020. 39

One more famous personage in Russia’s political life is Garry Kasparov, he is well-known all over the world as chess grandmaster. Only one his twit calling Putin’s politics as not more than putting guilt on others for crisis and Russia’s problems, informing about political protest actions got reposted almost 3.5 thousand times on July of 2019, when Russian government was facing very high political activity of population.48 By isolating Alexey Navalny, Ilya Yashin, Dmitry Gudkov and many other well-known leaders of the protest movement, the authorities believed that by doing so they would solve the problem and people would give up protesting and accept the current atmosphere in the state. But it turned out that they only gave a chance to prove themselves to new leaders. It is noteworthy that such leaders were women as well. One of the new political actors is Lyubov Sobol, she was the candidate for the Moscow City Duma, and actively was involving people to join the strikes held against actions around the elections. BBC included her in the 2019 year’s most influential women list.49 There are many other leaders and activists who are trying to get rid of the current Russian government, they all use different ways, ideology, forms of protest, but they have the most important common goal, is to take down Putin. One of the most influential ways of propaganda for both State and opposition is known by everyone is mass media, its use in politics cannot be replaced, at least nowadays. It is a common fact that mass media is controlled and used for propaganda by all states, and it is often we see get same information in different ways though other providers. Mostly, governmental TV channels have censor, while opposition providers critique authorities actively. In Russia’s political life, such mass media websites are quitу enough in order to reach the audience. List of popular opposition websites: 1. kasparov.ru 2. newtimes.ru 3. activatica.org 4. meduza.io 5. navalny.com

48 Garry Kasparov’s twitter page. Link: https://twitter.com/kasparov63/status/1155164469464580096. Last accessed: 26.05.2020. 49 The BBC’s 100 women of 2019. Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-50042279. Last accessed: 26.05.2020. 40

Mass media provides to people information, details of meetings, strikes, and others. Then, comes to work forms of political protest, in its many different views, starting from traditional forms to modern forms. We could consider them as tools of political marketing. 2019 faced one of the most modern political flash-mob in support of the actor Pavel Ustinov who was sent to prison for three and a half years by Tverskoy District Court. Official version is that he used violence against the police officer who was arresting him for taking a part in the protest movement in Moscow, it happened on 3rd of August 2019. Flash-mob started on 17th of September, the idea was to upload videos in support of their colleague on their social media pages. Many famous actors and singers accepted the flash-mob and actively shared the videos. Not long after on 20th of September, Ustinov was released from jail on recognizance not to leave the city by Moscow City Court, initiator was prosecutor who changed his mind. Later, on 30th of September, Court changes the judgment for one year of probation.50 In this case, flash-mob was directly addressed and had exact goal, and it got attention of followers and most important the authorities, the result shows the efficiency of such forms of political protest. Using, non-violence ways of protest is much safer for protestors comparing to others. However, every case has a different outcome. Additionally, The European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning Russia's actions against Ukrainians, whom Brussels considers political prisoners and environmental activists. The document also mentions the situation with the elections to the Moscow City Duma. In resolution said: "The Russian authorities and political leadership continue their repressive and authoritarian regime against their own citizens, civil society, political opposition and media workers. Russia’s slide into authoritarian rule has had a negative impact on EU-Russia relations and on stability in Europe and the world."51 458 votes for, 80 against and 89 non-voting. The resolution was adopted. Within the organizing protest became very easy and accessible for anyone due to the modern technologies and mass media affect. Cell phones, Internet, social networks are parts of our lives which without we cannot imagine our life anymore. So, Authorities are also leveling up, they understood that ignoring protestors does not help, they got also modern tools against spreading information such as

50 BBC news. Russian actor Ustinov has jail sentence reduced on appeal. 30th Sep 2019. Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49881787. Last accessed: 26.05.2020. 51 European Parliament resolution on Russia N2019/2734(RSP) 18.07.2019. Document: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/printficheglobal.pdf?id=704079&l=en. 41 controlling the Internet access, sometimes even cutting off during protests. Implementing many laws how people should use social networks and what they cannot say there.52

52 Andrew Roth. Russia’s great firewall: is it meant to keep information in – or out? The Guardian, 28. Apr 2019. Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/apr/28/russia-great-firewall-sovereign-internet-bill-keeping-information-in- or-out. Last accessed: 26.05.2020. 42

Conclusion 1) Political protest itself requires broad view and details in order classifying it. Different concepts have common connection in terms of people’s discontent and unity which causes protest mood and actions. As a reason can act many factors such as social, economic, environmental, etc. Protest is mainly caused due to the high expectations or low opportunities of people who are not satisfied according to D. Davis’s model. It depends on living conditions and political situation in the state as well. Protest can be positive and negative due to the direction it follows; it can lead into revolution with social changes same as leading to a new dictatorship. 2) Due to the changes in the world, globalization and new technologies, protest got its way into evolution. It was supported by easy access to information and mass media which spreads news all over the world in seconds. Such turn, was a pillar for the appearance of new modern forms of political protest, such as terrorism, flash-mob, hacktivism, etc. They require new ways of dealing with them by side of authorities as well. State’s up-date own capabilities as well, in the ways taking under control the mass media, internet as well as using forces against protestors. 3) Summer protests and all 2019 year were absolute slight step into big changes in Russian political life, taking into account the fact that Russia’s citizens were patient for a long time. These actions and movements change the overall picture of the near future of Russia in general. Putin’s policy and a high level of corruption motivate many young people to have own goals and the most important they are protesting and asking for what they need. People want their rights to be respected, human, economic, political, and environmental. Even though many of protestors were arrested, movements did not lose the popularity, each time more and more people got involved and supported each other against the authorities, I would consider that against Putin’s “monarchy”. What is most important is the lack of a real organization center. And this, perhaps, is the most alarming signal for the Putin regime, because traditionally the authorities have always been able to maneuver, finding vulnerable points in the ranks of the opposition, the protest was quenched largely due to the inability to agree on different political forces. It is not clear what part of this protest is the very key point of attraction. Therefore, if events continue to develop according to this scenario, then the government may face an increase in mass protests in the country. Any such event, even as insignificant as the elections to the Moscow City Duma, can provoke a big socio-political explosion. Which will not be easy to take under control even for such a country like Russia. Overall, political movements are very important part of life, and a big problem for the systems like Putin’s.

43

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