The Men's Movement in Post-Soviet Russia

Abstract

This thesis examines the men's movement in post-Soviet Russia - the first grass-root gender-based movement of men and a social phenomenon unique for the whole post-Soviet area that emerged in Russia in 2000. The social phenomenon was studied by the method of non-participant remote ethnography, involving multi-year observation of online activity of the Russian men's community, using the theoretical framework, built on R. Connell's masculinity theory and the Russian and Western academic sources. The online texts and video narratives of the research sample were analyzed focusing on the social and economic reasons for this men's movement beginning and the evolution of their cause from anti-feminist backlash to a more progressive and gender-sensitive one over the 2000-2021 period of existence. The liberal wing of the Russian Men's Movement, the Egalitarian Men's Movement, undergoes special scrutiny to determine whether it signifies that progressive trend in the Russian masculinity transformation. The research project provides insight into the controversial views of the Russian men on feminism and the social role of women, as well as into the ways the Russian men construct, perform and contest their masculinities with all the contradictions and inconsistencies that this process may involve. Keywords:...