Ivo Mijnssen

This important book analyzes the dubious role of the so-called Democratic Antifascist Youth Movement 'Nashi' in contemporary Russia. Part and parcel of the Putinist project of political stabilization, Nashi dominates state-sponsored youth politics in Russia, communicating demands from official discourse to a young audience. Idealizing the past, present, and future of Putin's Russia, Nashi mobilized young Russians through its emotional appeal, skillful use of symbolic politics and...

Over more than half a decade, the so-called Democratic Antifascist Youth Movement Nashi dominated state-sponsored youth politics in Russia. It communicated demands from official discourse to a young audience and formed part and parcel of the “Putinist” project of political stabilization. Nashi emphasized the importance of a powerful state, economic strength and Russian unity against domestic and external enemies threatening the country. Moreover, an idealized narrative of the Great Patriotic War...