The Struggle for Meaning of Obshchestvennyi Kontrol’ in Contemporary Russia: Civic Participation between Resistance and Compliance after the 2011–2012 Elections |
| |
Authors: | Catherine Owen |
| |
Institution: | 1. Lecturer in Central Asian Studies, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, People’s Republic of China;2. Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Politics, Amory Building, Rennes Drive, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4RJ, UK |
| |
Abstract: | This article explores contrasting conceptions of the essentially contested concept obshchestvennyi kontrol’, as understood by the anti-systemic opposition and the Kremlin. It shows that the period of contention accompanying the 2011–2012 elections allowed competing narratives of this concept to emerge. First, the opposition presented it as a means for citizens to hold corrupt authorities accountable to the law; second, the Kremlin promoted it as a means to enhance government efficiency. The article shows that the Kremlin has co-opted the counter-hegemonic discourse into a new law which delimits the possibilities for enacting this concept in a fashion that recalls Soviet governance practices. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|