{"id":1163,"date":"2021-12-04T09:19:24","date_gmt":"2021-12-04T14:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/extraocadsmhr\/?post_type=chapter&p=1163"},"modified":"2022-02-14T19:49:05","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T00:49:05","slug":"1163","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/extraocadsmhr\/chapter\/1163\/","title":{"raw":"5c. \"How Alexei Navalny revolutionized opposition politics in Russia, before his apparent poisoning\" (Short news article)","rendered":"5c. “How Alexei Navalny revolutionized opposition politics in Russia, before his apparent poisoning” (Short news article)"},"content":{"raw":"

Introduction to the article \"How Alexei Navalny revolutionized opposition politics in Russia, before his apparent poisoning<\/a><\/span>\"<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nHow can a single person push back against a powerful authoritarian political system?\r\n\r\nFor lawyer Alexei Navalny, it began by buying stock in energy companies, attending board meetings, and publishing damning internal documents.\r\n\r\nIt later grew much bigger as he pushed back against Russia's most powerful figure, President Vladimir Putin.\r\n\r\nIn her article, \"How Alexei Navalny revolutionized opposition politics in Russia, before his apparent poisoning,\" the author Regina Smyth discusses how this courageous dissident has attempted to push back against aggressive politics by using new protest strategies to offer a better version for the future.\r\n\r\n
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How Alexei Navalny revolutionized opposition politics in Russia, before his apparent poisoning<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\r\nRegina Smyth, The Conversation<\/em>, August 21, 2020 2.09pm EDT\r\n\r\nThe harrowing videos of Alexei Navalny, a blogger who has captured popular frustration in Russia,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>screaming in agony<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>on Aug. 20, 2020 before being removed unconscious from a plane to a waiting ambulance, demonstrate the Kremlin\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>increasing reliance on coercion to control dissent<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThis<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>attack is not the first Navalny<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>has endured. In 2017, he was doused with a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>green antibiotic<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that compromised his vision. In 2019, while in jail for organizing protests, he suspected<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>he had been poisoned<\/span><\/a>. Navalny has also been<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>wrongly convicted<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>on charges of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>financial wrong-doing<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>three times. Although he was released to prevent him from becoming a national martyr, his brother and co-defendant, Oleg,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>served three-and-a-half years in jail<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThroughout this period, the Kremlin worked to discredit Navalny without making him a martyr.<\/span>\r\n\r\nMy book \u201c<\/span>Elections, Protest, and Authoritarian Regime Stability: Russia 2008-2020<\/a><\/span>,\u201d reveals the nature of Navalny\u2019s threat to the Kremlin \u2013 one strong enough to make the claims that he has been poisoned credible.<\/span>\r\n
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Focus on corruption<\/h2>\r\nWhen he came onto the national stage 2010, Navalny brought a new type of opposition to Russian politics. He is in tune with popular concerns and able to find common ground across nationalist and liberal activists. He calls for\u00a0<\/span>removing President Vladimir Putin through elections<\/a><\/span>, while articulating a new vision for Russia.\r\n\r\nNavalny\u2019s importance is not about popularity. The Kremlin\u2019s arrests and disinformation campaigns have raised enough suspicions among voters\u00a0<\/span>that polling shows<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>he would not win a national election,\u00a0<\/span>even in the unlikely event of a fair fight<\/a><\/span>.\r\n\r\nInstead, Navalny\u2019s challenge to Putin\u2019s regime rests on his innovative ideas and organizing strategies that have made him a force in Russian politics.\r\n\r\nHe began as a lawyer, challenging the large Russian energy companies by\u00a0<\/span>buying stock and thus gaining the right to attend shareholders\u2019 meetings<\/a>.<\/span> He used his access to defy corporate leadership and release documents to demonstrate malfeasance.\r\n\r\nHe established\u00a0<\/span>The Anti-Corruption Foundation<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2013 now labeled a \u201cForeign Agent\u201d by the Kremlin \u2013 which collected citizens\u2019 reports of corrupt practices. His RosYama project, literally \u201cRussian Hole,\u201d allows citizens to go online to report potholes \u2013 a widespread, chronic problem in Russia \u2013 and track the government response.\r\n\r\nNavalny amplified his anti-corruption fight in 2011, when he labeled Putin\u2019s political party, United Russia, the \u201cParty of Crooks and Thieves<\/a><\/span>\u201d. When these efforts contributed to mass protest against electoral fraud, Navalny was\u00a0<\/span>at the fore<\/a><\/span>. Addressing an unprecedented crowd in 2011, he said, \u201cI see enough people here to take the Kremlin and [Government House] right now but we are peaceful people and won\u2019t do that just yet.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe joined the movement\u2019s Coordination Council and forged ties across the diverse opposition with the goal of reforming Putinism.\r\n\r\nHis canny use of social media has given thousands of Russians \u2013 both old and, especially, young \u2013 new insight and ways to protest against their government.\r\n

New model of opposition<\/h2>\r\nNavalny drew on the resources of these protests \u2013 activists, themes, online fundraising strategies and new coalitions \u2013 to build an\u00a0<\/span>opposition strategy that links elections and a variety of forms of protest<\/a><\/span>. He brought together an impressive team of young activists who challenge the regime at every step of the election process, from party formation to candidate registration and vote counting.\r\n\r\nVolunteers go door-to-door or accompany candidates to meet voters on their daily commutes or in apartment courtyards. They build temporary structures, called \u201ccubes,\u201d on busy streets, where they educate voters about policy. Campaign leaders urge activists to share online messages offline with those who do not use the internet.\r\n

New electoral technologies<\/h2>\r\nWhen he fell ill, Navalny was\u00a0<\/span>campaigning on behalf of a new generation of local candidates<\/a><\/span>.\r\n\r\nBy demonstrating that Russian elections are little more than performances of the state\u2019s capacity to manufacture votes, the Navalny team reveals the lack of choice and accountability in the system.\r\n\r\nIn summer 2019, this strategy led to significant protests after the regime barred almost all of the\u00a0<\/span>opposition candidates in Moscow\u2019s municipal elections<\/a><\/span>. When the government cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators, Navalny\u2019s team built a web-based way to identify any candidate who shared its values and urged voters to support that candidate \u2013 even if the candidate was in a party that they detested.\r\n\r\nRecent work by political scientists\u00a0<\/span>Mikhail Turchenko and Grigorii Golosov<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>demonstrate that Navalny\u2019s \u201cSmart Vote\u201d strategy made a real difference in Russias\u2019s 2019 local elections, helping to defeat nearly a third of Putin-aligned candidates in Moscow. Navalny\u2019s team was gearing up to do the same thing in the September 2020 vote.\r\n

Social media innovation<\/h2>\r\nNavalny\u2019s creative use of new media is not limited to pothole repairs and voting apps. Beginning in 2006, he wrote a popular blog on the Live Journal social networking service. When the Kremlin shut down his blog in 2012, he reinvented his social media presence.\r\n\r\nThe Anti-Corruption Foundation produced a short film, \u201cDon\u2019t Call Him Dimon<\/span><\/a>,\u201d that lampooned former President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev by showing his vast sneaker collection and flying a drone over his duck pond. Like ducks,\u00a0<\/span>sneakers became symbols<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>of the opposition. The expose revealed the myth of Medvedev as an honest leader.\r\n\r\nThe exposes have continued on Navalny\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>YouTube channel<\/a><\/span>. His broadcasts have probed Russian intervention in U.S. elections, the Kremlin\u2019s failure to provide COVID-19 relief and rigged Russian elections. These stories challenge the narrative presented in Russian state media, combating the regime\u2019s systematic disinformation campaign.\r\n
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Inspiring a new generation<\/h2>\r\nNavalny\u2019s efforts have captured the imagination of young Russians and demonstrated the effects of generational change. Following \u201cDon\u2019t Call Him Dimon,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>tens of thousands of young people took to the streets<\/a><\/span>, shocking a country that believed Putin\u2019s opposition was played out. Months later,\u00a0<\/span>they flocked to join<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Navalny\u2019s presidential campaign organization.\r\n\r\nNavalny knew the dangers of being the face of opposition to the Putin regime. The day before he fell ill, he\u00a0<\/span>joked with young supporters<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that his death would do more harm to the Kremlin than his activism.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s clear that Russians \u2013 who have taken to Twitter to urge him to hold on \u2013 don\u2019t want to test that hypothesis.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n
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Quiz<\/h2>\r\nQuiz on \"How Alexei Navalny revolutionized opposition politics in Russia, before his apparent poisoning<\/a><\/span>\"<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"100\"]<\/span>\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"101\"]<\/span>\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"102\"]<\/span>\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"103\"]<\/span>\r\n\r\n
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