Abstract
Memory production, vandalism, violence: Civil society and lessons from a short life of a monument to Stalin
Highlights
Civil society is perceived as a “watchdog” of society, a guarantor of democracy, and as an inherently positive institution
This work assesses the posts on social media, the official website of the organization “Russian Spirit,” newspaper articles, and secondary interviews from September 2015, to the present day to examine the qualities of the civil society
Concerning the monument to Stalin in Surgut, we examine both the actions of the “Russian Spirit” and the discourse around them
Summary
On September 15th 2016, the leaders of youth group the “Russian Spirit,” unveiled a monument to Stalin in the Siberian city Surgut, located in central Russia. In the spirit of toleration of the views which disturb, outrage, and lack respect for the millions of victims? Is the approach of the municipalities that banned the monument and the “good” civil society that repeatedly vandalized the monument appropriate? This work calls for a reimagination of the role of civil society engaged with memory initiatives and argues that limits to toleration of “uncivil” civil society exist. We should not presume that civil society initiatives are always respectful of victims, tolerance, and diversity. This work assesses the posts on social media, the official website of the organization “Russian Spirit,” newspaper articles, and secondary interviews from September 2015 (a date before the erection of the monument), to the present day to examine the qualities of the civil society. The work concludes by discussing potential paths of enduring revisionism, elaborating on the possibilities of toleration, resistance, condemning violence, and imposing restrictions through legal means
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