“I don't owe anyone anything” Draft-avoidance in contemporary Russia SVF-3901 Hanna Kuosmanen Master’s Thesis in Peace and Conflict Transformation Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education University of Tromsø Spring 2013 ii ABSTRACT This thesis examines draft-avoidance in the context of contemporary Russia. The objective of the research is to shed light on army-avoiders' views and reflections, not only for a better understanding of the issue of the conscription crisis, but also to provide insights into the transition from the Soviet to the Russian era and how young men negotiate and relate to processes of social change. To meet this objective, the study draws on nine qualitative interviews with young Russian men. As a conceptual framework for analysis, the study uses a gender perspective, especially masculinity. The term empowerment, including the supplementary categories of identity, agency and critical consciousness, has been chosen as a theoretical lens to further illuminate the interviewees' views on conscription and experiences of draft-avoidance. The study findings indicate that the interviewees wished to avoid the draft because they viewed the conscription system and military service as disempowering, as well as contradictory to their personal life aspirations. The findings also suggest that emerging masculinity notions and values integral to market capitalism contribute to empowering self- identifications, and thus play an important role in the process of draft-avoidance. Moreover, the findings indicate that draft-avoidance can be seen as a manifestation of the interviewees' ability to act as reflective and critical social agents who seek to actively direct their own lives. Furthermore, draft-avoidance appeared to be the interviewees' way of managing the contradictory challenges and expectations that the individual meets in a transitional society. Analytically, the study brings evidence to the on-going debate that there is coexistence of change and continuity, and that in a transitional period, namely this can create tensions and conflicts, which the deepening crisis of the conscription system and growing draft-avoidance in Russia are an example of. Key words agency, continuity, critical consciousness, draft-avoidance, empowerement, identity, military service, masculinity, social change iii iv Aknowledgements My sincerest thanks go to all the people whose help has made this thesis possible: To my informants: Огромное спасибо! Без вас не было бы этой работы. To my supervisor Percy Oware, a constant source of encouragement To Tatiana Shmankevich and the staff at the Center for Independent Social Research in St. Petersburg, especially Marika Pelgemiaynen To all the people who have shared their thoughts and understanding of the topic with me v Table of contents Chapter 1. Introduction...............................................................................................................1 1.1 Russian military in crisis..................................................................................................2 1.2 Topics in earlier research..................................................................................................4 1.3 Problem statement............................................................................................................6 1.4 Research questions...........................................................................................................7 1.5 Finding my thesis.............................................................................................................8 1.6 Structure of the thesis.....................................................................................................10 Chapter 2. Conscription in Russia.............................................................................................11 2.1 The Soviet era.................................................................................................................11 2.2 The post-Soviet era and the conscription crisis..............................................................13 2.3 Avoiding the draft...........................................................................................................17 2.4 Reforms and prospects for the future.............................................................................19 2.5 Summary........................................................................................................................21 Chapter 3. Methodology...........................................................................................................23 3.1 Study area.......................................................................................................................23 3.2 Choosing a data collection technique: Fieldwork..........................................................25 3.3 Informants......................................................................................................................26 3.4 Interviewing....................................................................................................................28 3.5 Challenges and reflections..............................................................................................30 3.5.1 Language.................................................................................................................30 3.5.2 Being a Finn............................................................................................................32 3.5.3 Cross-gender interviewing......................................................................................34 3.6 Summary........................................................................................................................36 Chapter 4. Conceptual framework............................................................................................38 4.1 Gender and Masculinity.................................................................................................39 4.2 Empowerment................................................................................................................43 4.2.1 Agency....................................................................................................................44 4.2.2 Critical consciousness.............................................................................................45 4.2.3 Identity....................................................................................................................46 4.3 Summary........................................................................................................................47 Chapter 5. Data presentation and analysis................................................................................49 5.1 Informant presentation...................................................................................................49 5.1.1 A note on informant protection and anonymity......................................................49 5.1.2 Background of informants......................................................................................50 5.1.3 Influence of social networks...................................................................................51 vi 5.1.4 Attitudes towards the armed forces and views on military service........................54 5.2 Defining one's self..........................................................................................................56 5.2.1 Capitalist masculinities...........................................................................................57 5.2.2 The family man.......................................................................................................59 5.2.3 Embracing individualism........................................................................................60 5.2.4 Self-made men........................................................................................................61 5.2.5 Empowering male identity?....................................................................................62 5.3 Othering conscript soldiers.............................................................................................63 5.3.1 Uneducated, ignorant and submissive....................................................................64 5.3.2 Unfit for the market society....................................................................................66 5.3.3 Ridiculous and pathetic boys..................................................................................67 5.3.4 Soldier – the unadmired Other................................................................................67 5.4 Empowerment or disempowerment?..............................................................................68 5.4.1 Oleg's story.............................................................................................................71 5.5 Finding and following one's own path...........................................................................73 5.5.1 Service avoidance as a conscious choice................................................................73 5.5.2 In search of interesting and meaningful life...........................................................74 5.6 Forgetting about the past................................................................................................76 5.7 Resisting traditional gender expectations.......................................................................77 5.7.1 Questioning