Suchergebnisse

Examines dissent and communist political oppression in the Soviet Union, based on testimonies of survivors of the Stalin era.

This article analyses the relationship between political youth organisations, music and national identity in contemporary Russia. It focuses on four of the most representative political youth groups present in the city of St. Petersburg – the Young Guard, the National Bolsheviks, the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI), and Oborona [Defence] – and describes their conceptualisation of post-Soviet Russianness, as captured through an analysis of their lyrics. The main contribution of this empirical study is the detection of convergences and divergences with regard to the national identity issue characterising youth organisations that position themselves differently in the Russian political spectrum.

Relates how an account of young rebels during Stalinist Russia provoked debate among press & society with many questioning the plausibility of secondary school students creating their own ideological space despite the all-encompassing party propaganda & minimal exposure to outside information. By analyzing & contextualizing the students' ideological & social backgrounds, activities, & tools of dissemination amid the "Stalinist civilization," an effort is made to understand how & why a young person in this environment formed convictions that departed from the official party line. The conclusion is drawn that, far from preventing political opposition, the restrictive mental & intellectual atmosphere proved an impetus to the youths' search for alternative thought, not only causing their resistance but shaping its form & character. Hence, faith & knowledge of socialist scripture seeded a more highly developed social conscience & abilities for political expression. A. E. Sadler

This study compares members of political youth organisations and explains variations in material incentives for enrolment using both organisation-level and individual-level factors. Empirically, it is based on a web survey of about 3,000 members of eight Swedish youth organisations. The analysis shows that young people have a complex combination of concerns, with the main dividing line being whether or not material incentives are important. At the organisational level, the prevalence of material incentives among members is positively related to the size of the mother party and whether it has government experience. Further, we find a positive association between material incentives and economic dependence on the part of the youth organisation on its mother party. At the individual level, we find that members who see the main role of the youth organisation as being to provide support for the mother party and for those politically aligned with it are more likely to have material motives for their enrolment.