RUT 3504 Final Terms Fall 2017
8."Direct internet democracy"
"It is important that this kind of information comes directly from the original source and actually ends up on my desk, or rather in my computer. I can simply see for myself what citizens who visit the site and react to my performances in the blog are writing.... It's a kind of direct and very effective channel of information linking the president, on the one hand, and all those who wish and who have computers on their desks, on the other." (Medvedev 2009) The world is so open that no politician can hide; we are simply obligated to synchronize our watches with the people, with civil society, and first and foremost on such sensitive issues as the level of civic freedoms." "Authorities (vlast') must seek out supporters on the net in order to be up-to-date and relevant. If it does not have such supporters then it's most likely that a breach will form between authorities and a significant portion of the people." -Medvedev's views on D.I.D.
5.Chess in Russia
"King's gambit: Can Russia remain a world leader on the chessboard?" by Svetlana Korneva: Chess is the only sport in which Russia has been able to maintain leadership since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Sergey Karjakin has entered the Guiness book of world records as the youngest chess grandmaster ever ."Checkmate: Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin is shaking up the chess world" by YEKATERINA SINELSCHIKOVA: Sergey Karjakin is the youngest grandmaster in history, and as of February 2017 he is ranked No. 9 in the world. He's highly sought after by sponsors, gets invited to glamorous parties, and is received by high-ranking officials.
7."The Borscht Whisperer"
A Jon Stewart skit "Barack Obama's hot mic at the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit" reveals that he'll have "more flexibility" after he gets re-elected, and that Russian accents are sinister." The way that Medvedev responded to Obama insinuated that all Russian accents are sinister and evil-sounding.
36. Sambo
Article "5 authentic sports in which the U.S. will never surpass Russia:" A traditional form of Russian fighting that deals with hand to hand combat. No weapons are used in this style which differs it from Karate. It is one of the "truly" Russian sports. In Putin's biography, he talks about how Karate is for the rebellious kids but Sambo is for the true Russians. Sambo first came about in the 1920s, when the Soviet government targeted the development of a new line of combat sports, abandoning the "bourgeois" karate, judo, and even boxing. A significant contribution to strengthening the image of sambo has been made by its most famous representative, Fedor Emelianenko.
35. Russian views of America(ns)
Article "American pop culture trends Russians choose to adopt:" While public polls are showing a negative attitude toward Americans among ordinary Russians, from a lifestyle perspective, the influence of American pop culture is quite notable. Ex: The costumes and appeal of the Back to the Future movie franchise. American influence on everyday life is extremely high on Russian culture (fashion trends, music, food, etc...) but anti-Americanism is extremely high, especially towards American foreign policy and its politics. Article "America? We Love Those Guys: Russian Propaganda U-Turns on the U.S.:" Perception of no anti-Americanism in Russia; few days later Trump wins election; Putin not surprised. Russia is happy that Trump is now president because now Washington will no drop words like "democracy" and "human rights." Donald Trump = Putin
24. "Readerly texts" vs. "writerly texts"
Article "Big Buck Books:" Readerly texts are those pieces of writing that are made for the readers. They are usually concise and do not contain very complicated subjects. These can be romance, action, drama, etc. Such books were meant for the people, people that just needed to get their mind of something and read for a bit. The writerly texts are those pieces of literature that are usually by famous and well known writers. Usually these pieces have very artistic value and and meant to incite analysis and thinking. These can be surrealists, tangled dramas, and the like. Books that require a lot more attention and might not be as readily available to all people. Skill is needed to understand the topic and motifs
30. Russian conservatism and "universal values"
Article "Russian Conservatives Challenge Notion Of 'Universal' Values:" Revived the 19th-century tsarist mantra of "Orthodoxy, autocracy, and nationality." The Russian conception of human rights does not include "the right to sin," meaning that society, especially in the form of the Russian Orthodox Church and the central state, has an obligation to protect itself as a means of protecting the rights of its citizens. Reject specific aspects of secular, Western, European, individualistic conception of human rights. Russian conservatives such as Dugin and Metropolitan Kirill insist on the need to respect a culture's historic and moral traditions when forming its laws and state institutions and on the right of each world culture to pursue its own path of development.
34. Russia(ns) through American eyes
Article/Lecture by Alisa Kurmanayeva, "Russian characters in Western movies: From spies to allies," Russia Beyond the Headlines: Four main stereotypes of Russians: 1.Devious spies: Colonel Podovsky in Rambo 2.Cooperative allies: Lev Andropov in Armageddon 3.Oligarchs and gangsters: Uri Omovich in RocknRolla 4.Charming and potentially dangerous: Viktor Petrov in House of Cards
39. "Wow impulses"
Chapter 7 of Homozapiens 1. Oral wow-type - "the dominant pattern around which emotional and psychological life is organized is an obsessive yearning for money 2. Anal wow-type- "the dominant pattern is the pleasurable elimination of money or the manipulation of objects that are surrogates for it 3. Displace wow-type- Stops you from recognizing that you are in a Oral-Anal cycle of accumulating wealth and then spending it all Processes on how we get sucked into spending to obtain ideal image
9. Echo of Moscow
Echo in the Dark Article: Name of radio station; Founded by Sergei Buntman, Sergei Korzun, and Yuri Fedutinov after Gorbachev introduced glasnost. Most of Echo of Moscow's content consists of news and talk shows focusing on social and political issues, where the station tries to represent different points of view. Represents a free media outlet in an unfree country. In a free country, the newspaper publishes a story, it influences television, it reaches the public, then it helps to shape the course of policy. In an unfree country, Echo of Moscow lives in isolation, on a kind of Indian reservation. It broadcasts a story or a discussion and it reaches an audience, but then it never goes any further." Putin is against this station because it supports freedom of speech; he has tried numerous times to shut it down but failed.
28. RT
Formerly Russia Today, it is considered one of Russia's propaganda machines. Has become very popular in a more global sense, with citizens of Western Europe using it as a credible news source. Comes off as showing the news from a different perspective than the Western world, and reports on things the West is not proud of.
11. "Institute of Apiculture"
Homozapiens book Ch 11. This institute is not what it sounds like, in reality it is the place where the three-dimensional renderings of politicians and other high profile people are being created and used for either the purposes of commercials or the purpose of actually changing politics. During this chapter, after Wee Vova was killed in a shootout by the Chechens, Markovin comes pick up Tatarsky to take him to a new job. The building is regal, high ceilings, persian carpets, much marble and gold. It is extravagant. In the office he meet the head of the institute, a man called Leonoid Azadovsky. When Tatarsky inquires about the need for all the big machines and high-end technology, Azadovsky's reply is "Did you see the sign on our premises? Well, here we are making like bees" In later chapters he learns that the machines used to recreate politicians are actually courtesy of the Americans and that they too have been using them for years. Due to relations between the two nations or favors between the two "Institutes" the energy of the machine is increased or decreased. Calls into question the reality of the politicians, if they truly exist, or if they are just generated. Even people can be paid of to corroborate the actions of these generated individuals.
10. "Era of primitive capital accumulation"
Homozapiens, chapter 2: "Tatarsky realized what the difference was between the era of decaying capitalism and the era of primitive capital accumulation. In the West, both the client who ordered advertising and copywriter tried to brainwash the consumer, but in Russia the copywriter's job was to brainwash the client." In essence, in the era of primitive capital accumulation, the businesses tended to screw the minds of the clients and get them to buy things.
4. Babylen Tatarsky
Homozapiens: Main character in the movie "Generation P" based on Victor Pelevin's 1999 iconic novel."When Babylen was a Young Pioneer, his generation received a gift from the decaying Soviet state in the form of a bottle of Pepsi, of Russian manufacture. Not just a beverage, it was also a symbol of hope that someday a new, magical life would arrive from the other side of the ocean. The arrival of this life, and the way it transformed these ex-Pioneers, is what the film is about. In the early Nineties, Tatarsky, a frustrated poet, takes a job as an advertising copywriter, and discovers a knack for putting a distinctively Russian twist on Western-style ads. But the deeper Tatarsky sinks into the advertising world, the more he wonders if he has sacrificed too much for money. His soaring success leads him into a surreal world of spin doctors, gangsters, drug trips, and the spirit of Che Guevara who, via a Ouija Board, imparts to him the dazzling theory of WOWism, about how television destroys the individual spirit. Though named in honor of Lenin, Babylen opts instead to believe in his "Babylonian" destiny, and secretly searches for the beautiful goddess Ishtar, who becomes for him a symbol of fortune. Meanwhile, the people around Babylen - clients, colleagues - perish in the violent dog-eat-dog world of new Russian capitalism. In Nineties Moscow, this is taken as the ordinary course of daily affairs. Tatarsky is invited to join an all-powerful PR firm run by a cynically ruthless advertising genius, Leonid Azadovsky, who invites Tatarsky to participate in a secret process of rigged elections and false political advertising. And as a result of his brilliance, Tatarsky achieves the ultimate, as he creates and gets elected a "virtual" president. But like Faust selling his soul to the devil, this ex-humanist gradually descends to the level of a reprobate, finding that he no longer belongs to himself, but is trapped in a virtual world of his own creation. Babylen returns to his Buddhist friend Gireyev and takes hallucinogenic mushrooms, in attempt to re-create his previous experience. In a ritualistic Sumerian initiation, Babylen replaces Azadovsky as head of the Agency and becomes the earthly husband of Goddess Ishtar, the object of his obsession. There, he is offered control of the mechanism that produces "simple human happiness" - and can control the world."
16. "New Russians"
Lecture on Business Culture: "Newly rich business class in post-Soviet Russia. It is perceived as a stereotypical caricature. According to the stereotype, "New Russians" achieved rapid wealth by using criminal methods during Russia's chaotic transition to a market economy" aka Vorsh; they are uneducated and have a lack of culture, flaunt their wealth and embrace extravagance. Usually bandits with links to the mafia.
15. Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Lecture on Business culture: Net worth: formerly $15 billion (now ~$500 m.) / A Muscovite with degrees in chemical engineering and economics / Head of his university's Komsomol — Communist youth league / Rapacious acquisitions, pragmatic manager / Computers/banking/oil (Yukos) / Arrested 2003 (fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion) / Yukos hit with $3.4 billion tax bill; MKh hit with $700 mil. Bill / Yukos auctioned off by state / Second trial (2010—embezzlement and money laundering)— 4 more years / Pardoned by VVP in 2013 / currently lives in exile in Switzerland
17. New Russian Elite
Lecture on Business culture: Plain old millionaires / They make up ~ 1.5% of Russian population (700,000 families) / Emerging "young" elite (age 40-45) / New generation: not part of Yeltsin privatization schemes / Vigor, enterprise, industriousness, professionalism, high level of education / More likely to develop sense of social responsibility /Values: family and freedom / Importance of a clear conscience
22. Putin and the Russian internet
Lecture on Digital Revolution: Putin doesn't trust the Internet, calls it a CIA conspiracy to continue spying on Russia. Also, doesn't like it because it is a venue in which rallies/protests are planned. Has passed laws censoring things that may be going against him and his party. Later embraced internet, used it as platform to denounce opposition (fight fire with fire). Created putin2012.ru which was his main campaign platform. "We need to better orient the "electronic government" project to the needs and demands of citizens. Maximally and fully divulge information about the activity of organs of state and municipal power. Through electronic technology make the state mechanism comprehensible and accessible to society. Every person should clearly understand from the information on government sites what can be obtained from which agency and how, and which concrete bureaucrat needs to be asked what question. (Putin 2012)."
19. Politics of the Russian internet
Lecture on Digital Revolution: Runet was a source of free speech and access to information. Dmitry Medvedev was considered as the web 2.0 president. Runet was a natural development of a civil society. D. Medvedev promoted direct internet democracy. Dmitry promoted Internet; had his own blog and encouraged fellow political members to create own blogs. In 2012 election, internet was a source of political opposition and shaper of public opinion.
29. Runet
Lecture on Digital Revolution: Russia's version of the "Internet"; ends in .ru instead of .com. Unofficial term for the Russian language internet. Mention when it emerged, what it looked like in early phase, and how it evolved. Early Runet had the first public online library in 1994. First search engine was rambler.ru. First blog was LiveJournal and mail was mail.ru. 1990s mostly tech-savy individuals used Runet, major growth occurred in 2000s and more adults and teens started using it. Created first search engine (Yandex) and social media such as Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki.
23. Ramzan Kadyrov
Lecture on Kadyrov and Instagram: Head of the Chechen Republic and a former member of the Chechen independence movement. Seperaist in first Chechen war (1994-96). Head of Chechen republic since 2007. Oversees rebuilding of Chechen (around $6.4 billion). Has a local army of around 10,000 Kadyrovites. Linked to political assassinations, media suppression, bullying political opposition. He is a devote Muslim and Putin's foot soldier. Most Instagram posts depict him as an execute, faithful Muslim, family man, and sportsman.
21. Putin and the Russian media
Lecture on Literature and Mass Media: National pride (promote Russia, have Russian TV shows) / Power politics /Battle with media moguls (Gusinsky, Berezovsky) /T.V. news (perviy kanal) programming /Elimination of controversial talk shows / Campaign media laws / During third term, created internet laws, establishment of RT, sputnik.com
38. Trends in Russian television programming
Lecture on Literature and Mass Media; Media trends in the early- mid 1990s: · Soaps (Santa Barbara, Dallas) · Serials (Dr. Quinn..., Walker, Texas Ranger, etc.) · Game shows (Wheel of Fortune, Price is Right, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, etc.) · Talk shows (trashy and otherwise) · Cheap imported movies (esp. action-adventure) · Advertising (candy, cigarettes, household products, personal hygiene) · (later) Reality T.V. (Survivor, Big Brother, Fear Factor, etc.) Media trends mid-late 1990s: · Russian made TV shows and programming · Ex: Brigada, The Motherland Awaits, · Market based patriotism, Russian owned programming
20. Popular fiction in post-Soviet Russia
Lecture on Literature and Media: In literature, pulp fiction, scientific fiction, romance, and detective novels emerged as the prominent, popular literature. The "new Russian detektiv" added appeal in Russia in the 1990s. Detective novels were so popular because it made the Russians feel like they were solving the crimes occurring in Russia (mafias).
3. The Americans (2013-present)
The Americans is a FX TV show that portrays two KGB agents living in the US as travel agents. The show portrays typical stereotypes such as cold-heart Russians (the female character is more patriotic and KGB-driven), but also the notion that "once a KGB agent, always a KGB agent" in regard to the couple wanting to quit, but not being able to. It also brings in some American stereotypes such as the FBI being Russian-crazed.
32. Russian Orthodox Church and the state
Lecture on Religious Culture and Articles. The primary religion of Russian politicians (and the country as a whole, 41%). The church fully supports Putin and even goes as far as to say that he was given to Russia by god. In turn, the church is given more support by the government and even have their gospel taught in schools. Strong emphasis on hierarchy, tradition, ritual. Traditionally subservient relationship of Church to the State. Ethnic Russians identifying with Orthodox Christianity: 72%
25. Religious education in Russian schools
Lecture on Religious Culture and Articles: "The Basics of Religious Culture" (ROC pushes to make it an all-Orthodox curriculum). This was resisted by the first two Putin administrations consistently. Medvedev then created a pilot program for 10-11 year olds (year 4 of school). Gave students and parents a choice of 6 topics and one to choose to study during year 4 (Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Orthodox Church, world religious cultures, and secular ethics). 60% chose secular ethics, scared the R.O.C. "Parents' persistent insistence on choosing the Secular Ethics over the Orthodox Culture module are a constant worry for the Church, which regularly complains about the pressure on families from schools. So the head of the Synodal Department for Religious Education and Instruction, Metropolitan Merkury has proposed not only lengthening the existing module, but including the Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture in Years 2-10 of the National Curriculum; and the Ministry for Education and Science has taken up his proposal, although it is not publicizing this development. And for some reason, representatives of other faiths and denominations do not seem concerned." (Open Democracy, 2014)
27. Roman Abramovich
Lecture on Russian Business Culture: Russian oligarch, multibillionaire, and owner of Chelsea Football Club; Source of wealth comes from oil (sibneft), steel. Has a private Boeing 767 with bedrooms, bathrooms, and missile-jamming technology. Chateau in the South of France. 533' Private yacht, the "Eclipse" (2nd largest in world). Still free and not in jail because of Putin's selective recrimination. Aided in the economic rebound in 2008.
14. Literature and glasnost
Lecture slide on Literature and mass media: Glasnost was one of the main reform policies of Mikhail Gorbachev which contributed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Glasnost, meaning openness, transformed media and literature by giving the press more freedom to cover politics. Glasnost also removed the ban of certain literary works that were banned by Stalin. "Underground sees the light" Older censored works Bulgakov, Pasternak, Solzhenitsyn, Zamiatin, Platonov became reintroduced to society.
13. Law "On Freedom of Conscience and Associations"
Lecture slide on Religious culture: 1997 law "On Freedom of Conscience and Associations" declares respect for "Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and the other religions that constitute an inalienable part of the historical inheritance of the peoples of Russia."
12. Islam and Muslims in Russia
Lecture slide on religious culture: One of the traditional faiths in Russia. Estimated 20 million people (15% of population). Legacy of Chechen conflict -- "Islamic terrorists/fundamentalists" / Post-9/11 links to terrorism: increased "Islamophobia" / Gang violence vs. Muslims; / Banning veils for passport photos; Laws est. Russian as official language. Located around the Volga and Transcaucasus regions. V. Putin's PR campaign: "Russia is a part of the Muslim world." Notes Muslim presence in Russian lands pre-dating Christianity - indigenous population, as compared to Muslim emigres in Europe; Observer status in Organization of the Islamic Conference; Improved relations with Turkey and Saudi Arabia; Easing travel for Russian Muslims to Mecca
1. 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik (October) Revolution
Lecture: "Putin cannot publicly condemn the Bolshevik Revolution, not when the Communist Party — which will be holding a rally in Moscow on Tuesday — remains one of the two most popular opposition parties in Russia. And out of that revolution grew the strong state that, however many wrongs it committed against its people, succeeded the shamefully decrepit and deteriorating Russia of 1917." Some people celebrated the end of the revolution, and some did not; it represents the differing sides and the USSR nostalgia.
2. Alexey Navalny
Lecture: Renowned critic of Kremlin and Putin; since October 2017, he is jailed for the third time this year. He is a lawyer and the leader of the Russian Opposition Party. He has gained prominence in Russia, and in the Russian international media, as a critic of corruption and of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has organized large-scale demonstrations promoting reform and attacking political corruption, Putin and Putin's political allies; he has run for a political office on the same platform. In 2012, The Wall Street Journal described him as "the man Vladimir Putin fears most".
31. Russian Oligarchs
Main stereotypes: Crooks, bandits, only flaunt their wealth. Khodorkovsky (once the wealthiest man, jailed, exiled), Leonid Michelson (gas, petrochemicals), Usmanov (steel, telecom, investments in Facebook), Abramovich (oil, Chelsea soccer club)
6."Cooperative allies"
One of the four Russian stereotypes from Alisa Kurmanayeva's article "Russian characters in Western movies: From spies to allies". With the onset of perestroika, however, the characteristics of Russians in movies began to change. Films featured an increasing number of Russians who were ready to cooperate and establish links between their country and the West. Example: Colonel Lev Andropov in "Armageddon" (1998), is unshaven, a little wild and wears a cap with earflaps, but, nevertheless, he makes a significant contribution to the salvation of humanity from a powerful asteroid.
37. Traditional faiths of Russia
Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism
33. Russian politics of multiculturalism
Religious Culture Reading by Anna Alekseyeva: Alternative multi-culturalism in Putin era. To accommodate a multicultural national identity - one that is positioned at the juncture of Asia and Europe - Putin has elevated Islam alongside Russian Orthodox Christianity as one of the country's two central religions. Not only has Putin defended Islam as historically indigenous to Russian culture, he has also sided with the proposition that Orthodox Christianity is closer to Islam than to Catholicism. While Western Protestants evince their liberal values through support of abortion and homosexuality, Putin has said, Islam and the ROC are bound in their deference to a traditional value system. Putin has denounced the import of Islamic practices like the wearing of the hijab, arguing that they are foreign to traditional Russian Islam. Putin's geopolitics positions Russia as a nation between East and West. When it comes to values and morality, however, Putin's Russia is decidedly anti-Western.
26. Rhythmic gymnastics in Russia
Sports articles "Russia Beyond the Headlines- Russians Dominate Rhythmic Gymnastics Competition; Russia has produced many successful rhythmic gymnasts and practically dominate the sport. Part of "industrial gymnastics" where children are trained to become athletes.
18. Plato Makovsky
Tycoon: Platon Makovsky is a killer capitalist, a one time mathematics professor nicknamed Plato who seizes on the fall of Marxism as his opportunity to play capitalist tricks in a naive new economy. The character is based on the real-life billionaire Boris Berezovsky. Platon eventually becomes one of the wealthiest and most influential people in Russia due to his enormous wealth. Most of his inner circle, like himself, came up through universities, since academia offered an alternative to bureaucracy and the army in the pre-collapse days. Plato ends up competing and infuriating his friends, ending in his demise. In the end, Platon ends up assassinated.
