The Internet and Anti-military Activism in Russia

Abstract

This study investigates the forms and networks of civic activism on the Russian-language segment of the internet through the data of anti-military web pages and weblogs in 2007. The results of the web page analysis are complemented by interviews with Russian activists and discussed in the context of the role of the internet in Russian democratisation. Although the state of anti-military activism on the Russian internet currently seems fragmented, the role of the internet and one particular weblog platform, LiveJournal, are considered to contain important potential for future forms of Russian activism.