Gender and the State in Debates on Conscription

Abstract

As previous chapters have demonstrated, much of Russian social welfare reform has been directed towards women and children, but has paid less attention to the problems faced by contemporary Russian men. Indeed, since the collapse of the USSR, Russian men seemed to be in crisis: statistics showed a declining male life expectancy, with increased alcohol-related deaths, cigarette smoking, and deaths by violence identified as important contributing factors.1 One argument was that many men felt powerless because of the economic dislocations brought by the collapse of communism. A 2009 study published in the medical journal The Lancet substantiated a statistical correlation between speedy privatization and high male death rates in post-communist countries; unemployed men and those without strong social ties were especially vulnerable.2 These problems attracted attention in Russian public debate, but the distinct challenges of men remained an unresolved issue in public policy.KeywordsArmed ForceMilitary ServiceAlternative ServiceConscientious ObjectorMale Life ExpectancyThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.