Svetlana Stephenson - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Svetlana Stephenson
Criminal Justice Matters, Dec 1, 2008
Critical Criminology, Jun 16, 2022
This article challenges a tendency prominent in critical theory-one that holds that being "vague ... more This article challenges a tendency prominent in critical theory-one that holds that being "vague and strange" constitute qualities of life opposed to the grid-like systems of coercive control intrinsic to the operation of modern power regimes which, by their ascriptive nature, are compelled to suppress all life which exhibits these traits. Consequently, vagueness represents not only the antithesis of modern power, but a source of resistance against it. This article contests this assumption by exploring the vague regimes of power (which, following William Burroughs, we call "interzones"), which also exist within the fabric of the administered order. The article examines how these interzones function and explores two incarnations: zones of entrapment and zones of impunity. Definitive Bulletin: The Sender will be defined by negatives. A low pressure area, a sucking emptiness. He will be portentously anonymous, faceless, colourless. He will-probably-be born with smooth disks of skin instead of eyes. He always knows where he is going like a virus knows. He doesn't need eyes.
Europe-Asia Studies, 2012
This article analyses the violent practices of youth territorial groups in Moscow. These groups e... more This article analyses the violent practices of youth territorial groups in Moscow. These groups exist on the city periphery and mainly involve young people (most of them male), who are not well integrated into society through the schooling system. Rather than simply depending on violence as a survival tool within the dangerous and uncertain space of the streets, or as an instrument for crime, the members of these groups use their collective mastery of it as proof of elite status, in accordance with cultural prescriptions drawn from deep historical traditions.
The Sociological Review, May 1, 2011
This article discusses the evolution of street gangs in the Russian city of Kazan. Using historic... more This article discusses the evolution of street gangs in the Russian city of Kazan. Using historic and interview data, it shows that the changes in the social organization of these gangs were a reaction to a series of systemic crises in the Soviet and post-Soviet social order. As a result of power deficits, emerging in the space of the streets and in the larger society, the gangs moved through several stages: a) youth peer groups acting out traditional prescriptions of masculine socialisation; (b) territorial 'elite' formations; (c) 'violent entrepreneurs' and (d) autonomous ruling regimes. The article demonstrates that the gangs, while utilising violence to achieve their projects of social and economic domination, may also regulate its use. It argues that the gangs can be seen as historic agents participating in ground-level social regulation, and not simply products and producers of social disorder.
Versus
In recent years, we have seen a resurgence in the practice of public branding, a process in which... more In recent years, we have seen a resurgence in the practice of public branding, a process in which members of a society express moral indignation at the views or behavior of an individual or a group. This stigmatization is especially common on social media, but it can also take other forms (meetings of Academic Councils and ethics commissions, the so-called cancel culture, and so on). The splitting of the public into opposing groups, the fury of the accusations, the severe consequences of stigmatization for social status, the reputation of a person, the often revealed interest of the state and certain institutions in unleashing or using stigmatization — all this makes it an important phenomenon of modern public life. Stephenson’s article examines the practice of prorabotka, a ritual of public shaming that took place in schools, universities and workplaces in the Soviet Union. It argues that rather than being events dedicated to moral improvement and re-education of individuals by the...
Current Digest of the Russian Press, The
Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniia, 1996
Current Digest of the Russian Press, The
Critical Criminology
This article challenges a tendency prominent in critical theory—one that holds that being “vague ... more This article challenges a tendency prominent in critical theory—one that holds that being “vague and strange” constitute qualities of life opposed to the grid-like systems of coercive control intrinsic to the operation of modern power regimes which, by their ascriptive nature, are compelled to suppress all life which exhibits these traits. Consequently, vagueness represents not only the antithesis of modern power, but a source of resistance against it. This article contests this assumption by exploring the vague regimes of power (which, following William Burroughs, we call “interzones”), which also exist within the fabric of the administered order. The article examines how these interzones function and explores two incarnations: zones of entrapment and zones of impunity.
The Illicit and Illegal in Regional and Urban Governance and Development, 2017
There is a prevailing opinion, shared by Russians and Western observers, that Russia's legal ... more There is a prevailing opinion, shared by Russians and Western observers, that Russia's legal system is hopelessly corrupt and subject to political manipulation. Russia is rules by "telephone law", where those with power or money can bend the law in their own interests. In her new book, Everyday Law in Russia, Kathryn Hendley puts this to the test. She is interested in how Russians engage with the legal system and whether the disdain, so often expressed for the courts, is matched by the reality of the people's behaviour when defending their legal rights.
A child, living in summer and in winter on underground water-pipes, a child collapsing out of hun... more A child, living in summer and in winter on underground water-pipes, a child collapsing out of hunger, a child in alcoholic intoxication, a child sniffing toxic substances with a plastic bag over its head, a child who instead of being at school or in after-school classes is working for commercial shop owners, a child sold to work as a beggar, and finally, a child, killing its parents! This array of images is a part of the Declaration of the Movement ‘In Defence of Childhood’, which had its founding Congress in Moscow in spring 1998. The movement was organised by the Duma Committee on women, family and children. Much of the rhetoric of this document seems to be aimed against the ‘democrats’ in government, who are to blame for the current crisis. However, the anxieties expressed in it capture the universal feelings about the fate of children in Russian society. Children, who were always declared to be the only ‘privileged class’ in Soviet society, are now perceived as victims of povert...
Poverty in transition economies, 2000
Russian Education & Society, 2002
Over the span of the 1990s, street children have become a noticeable phenomenon in many cities of... more Over the span of the 1990s, street children have become a noticeable phenomenon in many cities of Russia. Deprived of parental supervision and wandering around the streets in search of sustenance and amusement, they are cause for worry in society. Newspaper articles and popular science publications print disturbing data about the numbers of such children (from 1 to 5 million; the total number of children in Russia is about 37 million). In actuality, however, there are no reliable data on the numbers of street children in Russia, especially since there is no unified consensus as to just who are to be considered children of the streets. Indirect data give evidence of a substantial increase in the numbers of neglected children who come to the attention of state bodies and law enforcement agencies, compared with the late 1980s. For example, by the late 1990s the number of children being brought into the Centers for the Temporary Detention of Juvenile Offenders of the MVD [Ministry of Internal Affairs] (these centers, with the acronym TsVINP, are often referred to by their former name of reception and disposition centers) had risen by about two times compared with 1988. There was also an increase in the number of children's homes [orphanages] in the country (the number almost doubled in the past three years); now there are more than a thousand of them. Children's homes, boarding schools, and municipal and charitable shelters are not able to accommodate everyone who needs them. As before, a major role in the system of monitoring and managing children's homelessness is being played by police agencies that pick up suspicious-looking children in the streets. Children from other towns are placed in the reception and disposition centers to determine what the facts are, while youngsters from Moscow are sent back to their homes. The children may spend up to a month in the reception and disposition centers while personnel determine their place of residence and whether they have any record of criminal doings or have run away from juvenile educational and correctional institutions. They are then either taken back home or placed in children's homes. Many wind up in the streets again, are picked up again, and so on. Of the 6,000 children brought into Moscow's TsVINP in 1998, 1,400 had already spent time there that same year.
The resurgence of public shaming campaigns in modern societies has important antecedents in the r... more The resurgence of public shaming campaigns in modern societies has important antecedents in the relatively recent past. The paper addresses the practice of prorabotka, a ritual of public shaming that took place in schools, universities and workplaces in the Soviet Union. Prorabotka, whose genealogy can be traced to early post-revolutionary years, was aimed at the reinforcement of social norms challenged by political and moral deviance. Public shaming was applied to a wide range of behaviours, including ideological and moral deviations such as public drunkenness, marital infidelity by party members, planned emigration to Israel, etc. The paper applies a theoretical framework that builds on Durkheimian and neo-Durkheimian approaches to ritual, Garfinkel’s outline of the theory of public degradation ceremonies, and Zizek’s account of split law. It shows that, in addition to an official script, the meetings had a supplementary script that unleashed a jouissance of punitiveness but also ...
Current Sociology, 2016
The article analyses the evolution of the state–organized crime relationship in Russia during the... more The article analyses the evolution of the state–organized crime relationship in Russia during the post-Soviet transition. Using a case study conducted in Tatarstan, which included interviews with criminal gang members and representatives of law enforcement agencies and analysis of secondary data, it argues that instead of a pattern of elimination or subjugation of Russian organized crime by the state, we see a mutually reinforcing ensemble which reproduces the existing social order. While both the strengthening of the state and organized crime actors’ own ambitions led to their increasing integration into political structures, a complex web of interdependencies emerged in which actors from criminal networks and political authorities collaborated using each other’s resources. This fusion and assimilation of members of the governing bureaucracy and members of an aspiring bourgeoisie coming from criminal backgrounds were as much the result of consensus and cooperation as of competition...
Criminal Justice Matters, Dec 1, 2008
Critical Criminology, Jun 16, 2022
This article challenges a tendency prominent in critical theory-one that holds that being "vague ... more This article challenges a tendency prominent in critical theory-one that holds that being "vague and strange" constitute qualities of life opposed to the grid-like systems of coercive control intrinsic to the operation of modern power regimes which, by their ascriptive nature, are compelled to suppress all life which exhibits these traits. Consequently, vagueness represents not only the antithesis of modern power, but a source of resistance against it. This article contests this assumption by exploring the vague regimes of power (which, following William Burroughs, we call "interzones"), which also exist within the fabric of the administered order. The article examines how these interzones function and explores two incarnations: zones of entrapment and zones of impunity. Definitive Bulletin: The Sender will be defined by negatives. A low pressure area, a sucking emptiness. He will be portentously anonymous, faceless, colourless. He will-probably-be born with smooth disks of skin instead of eyes. He always knows where he is going like a virus knows. He doesn't need eyes.
Europe-Asia Studies, 2012
This article analyses the violent practices of youth territorial groups in Moscow. These groups e... more This article analyses the violent practices of youth territorial groups in Moscow. These groups exist on the city periphery and mainly involve young people (most of them male), who are not well integrated into society through the schooling system. Rather than simply depending on violence as a survival tool within the dangerous and uncertain space of the streets, or as an instrument for crime, the members of these groups use their collective mastery of it as proof of elite status, in accordance with cultural prescriptions drawn from deep historical traditions.
The Sociological Review, May 1, 2011
This article discusses the evolution of street gangs in the Russian city of Kazan. Using historic... more This article discusses the evolution of street gangs in the Russian city of Kazan. Using historic and interview data, it shows that the changes in the social organization of these gangs were a reaction to a series of systemic crises in the Soviet and post-Soviet social order. As a result of power deficits, emerging in the space of the streets and in the larger society, the gangs moved through several stages: a) youth peer groups acting out traditional prescriptions of masculine socialisation; (b) territorial 'elite' formations; (c) 'violent entrepreneurs' and (d) autonomous ruling regimes. The article demonstrates that the gangs, while utilising violence to achieve their projects of social and economic domination, may also regulate its use. It argues that the gangs can be seen as historic agents participating in ground-level social regulation, and not simply products and producers of social disorder.
Versus
In recent years, we have seen a resurgence in the practice of public branding, a process in which... more In recent years, we have seen a resurgence in the practice of public branding, a process in which members of a society express moral indignation at the views or behavior of an individual or a group. This stigmatization is especially common on social media, but it can also take other forms (meetings of Academic Councils and ethics commissions, the so-called cancel culture, and so on). The splitting of the public into opposing groups, the fury of the accusations, the severe consequences of stigmatization for social status, the reputation of a person, the often revealed interest of the state and certain institutions in unleashing or using stigmatization — all this makes it an important phenomenon of modern public life. Stephenson’s article examines the practice of prorabotka, a ritual of public shaming that took place in schools, universities and workplaces in the Soviet Union. It argues that rather than being events dedicated to moral improvement and re-education of individuals by the...
Current Digest of the Russian Press, The
Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniia, 1996
Current Digest of the Russian Press, The
Critical Criminology
This article challenges a tendency prominent in critical theory—one that holds that being “vague ... more This article challenges a tendency prominent in critical theory—one that holds that being “vague and strange” constitute qualities of life opposed to the grid-like systems of coercive control intrinsic to the operation of modern power regimes which, by their ascriptive nature, are compelled to suppress all life which exhibits these traits. Consequently, vagueness represents not only the antithesis of modern power, but a source of resistance against it. This article contests this assumption by exploring the vague regimes of power (which, following William Burroughs, we call “interzones”), which also exist within the fabric of the administered order. The article examines how these interzones function and explores two incarnations: zones of entrapment and zones of impunity.
The Illicit and Illegal in Regional and Urban Governance and Development, 2017
There is a prevailing opinion, shared by Russians and Western observers, that Russia's legal ... more There is a prevailing opinion, shared by Russians and Western observers, that Russia's legal system is hopelessly corrupt and subject to political manipulation. Russia is rules by "telephone law", where those with power or money can bend the law in their own interests. In her new book, Everyday Law in Russia, Kathryn Hendley puts this to the test. She is interested in how Russians engage with the legal system and whether the disdain, so often expressed for the courts, is matched by the reality of the people's behaviour when defending their legal rights.
A child, living in summer and in winter on underground water-pipes, a child collapsing out of hun... more A child, living in summer and in winter on underground water-pipes, a child collapsing out of hunger, a child in alcoholic intoxication, a child sniffing toxic substances with a plastic bag over its head, a child who instead of being at school or in after-school classes is working for commercial shop owners, a child sold to work as a beggar, and finally, a child, killing its parents! This array of images is a part of the Declaration of the Movement ‘In Defence of Childhood’, which had its founding Congress in Moscow in spring 1998. The movement was organised by the Duma Committee on women, family and children. Much of the rhetoric of this document seems to be aimed against the ‘democrats’ in government, who are to blame for the current crisis. However, the anxieties expressed in it capture the universal feelings about the fate of children in Russian society. Children, who were always declared to be the only ‘privileged class’ in Soviet society, are now perceived as victims of povert...
Poverty in transition economies, 2000
Russian Education & Society, 2002
Over the span of the 1990s, street children have become a noticeable phenomenon in many cities of... more Over the span of the 1990s, street children have become a noticeable phenomenon in many cities of Russia. Deprived of parental supervision and wandering around the streets in search of sustenance and amusement, they are cause for worry in society. Newspaper articles and popular science publications print disturbing data about the numbers of such children (from 1 to 5 million; the total number of children in Russia is about 37 million). In actuality, however, there are no reliable data on the numbers of street children in Russia, especially since there is no unified consensus as to just who are to be considered children of the streets. Indirect data give evidence of a substantial increase in the numbers of neglected children who come to the attention of state bodies and law enforcement agencies, compared with the late 1980s. For example, by the late 1990s the number of children being brought into the Centers for the Temporary Detention of Juvenile Offenders of the MVD [Ministry of Internal Affairs] (these centers, with the acronym TsVINP, are often referred to by their former name of reception and disposition centers) had risen by about two times compared with 1988. There was also an increase in the number of children's homes [orphanages] in the country (the number almost doubled in the past three years); now there are more than a thousand of them. Children's homes, boarding schools, and municipal and charitable shelters are not able to accommodate everyone who needs them. As before, a major role in the system of monitoring and managing children's homelessness is being played by police agencies that pick up suspicious-looking children in the streets. Children from other towns are placed in the reception and disposition centers to determine what the facts are, while youngsters from Moscow are sent back to their homes. The children may spend up to a month in the reception and disposition centers while personnel determine their place of residence and whether they have any record of criminal doings or have run away from juvenile educational and correctional institutions. They are then either taken back home or placed in children's homes. Many wind up in the streets again, are picked up again, and so on. Of the 6,000 children brought into Moscow's TsVINP in 1998, 1,400 had already spent time there that same year.
The resurgence of public shaming campaigns in modern societies has important antecedents in the r... more The resurgence of public shaming campaigns in modern societies has important antecedents in the relatively recent past. The paper addresses the practice of prorabotka, a ritual of public shaming that took place in schools, universities and workplaces in the Soviet Union. Prorabotka, whose genealogy can be traced to early post-revolutionary years, was aimed at the reinforcement of social norms challenged by political and moral deviance. Public shaming was applied to a wide range of behaviours, including ideological and moral deviations such as public drunkenness, marital infidelity by party members, planned emigration to Israel, etc. The paper applies a theoretical framework that builds on Durkheimian and neo-Durkheimian approaches to ritual, Garfinkel’s outline of the theory of public degradation ceremonies, and Zizek’s account of split law. It shows that, in addition to an official script, the meetings had a supplementary script that unleashed a jouissance of punitiveness but also ...
Current Sociology, 2016
The article analyses the evolution of the state–organized crime relationship in Russia during the... more The article analyses the evolution of the state–organized crime relationship in Russia during the post-Soviet transition. Using a case study conducted in Tatarstan, which included interviews with criminal gang members and representatives of law enforcement agencies and analysis of secondary data, it argues that instead of a pattern of elimination or subjugation of Russian organized crime by the state, we see a mutually reinforcing ensemble which reproduces the existing social order. While both the strengthening of the state and organized crime actors’ own ambitions led to their increasing integration into political structures, a complex web of interdependencies emerged in which actors from criminal networks and political authorities collaborated using each other’s resources. This fusion and assimilation of members of the governing bureaucracy and members of an aspiring bourgeoisie coming from criminal backgrounds were as much the result of consensus and cooperation as of competition...
Cornell University Press, Страна Оз, 2017
Книга посвящена российским уличным преступным группировкам. Центральное место в ней занимают каза... more Книга посвящена российским уличным преступным группировкам. Центральное место в ней занимают казанские группировки, их история, моральный кодекс ("пацанские понятия"), экономическая деятельность и трансформация этих организаций с конца 1970-х годов по 2000-е включительно. Помимо казанских группировок в книге анализируются имеющиеся данные по группировкам в других регионах России. Используя тексты углубленных интервью с участниками группировок, работниками правоохранительных органов и местными жителями, автор рассматривает практики насилия в группировках, взаимодействие между "реальными пацанами" и их родителями, учителями, соседями, работниками органов власти. Показано также влияние культуры группировок на массовую культуру и политический дискурс.