Seliger v. Anti-Seliger: Political Forums and the Future of Russia

Summer camps have a profound impact on the youth of a country. In those formative years they serve as proving grounds for young men and women to demonstrate their myriad skills and dominance over their competitors. Enter “Seliger”, the all-Russian youth educational camp sponsored by the Russian nationalist youth group “Nashi”.

Serving to mold young minds through all manner of political activities (and, apparently, extracurricular activities such as the “breeding tents”), the Seliger forum and Nashi’s platform will contribute to the protection and elevation of ‘Russianness’ and the great power of the Russian Federation. The groups ideological doctrine can be compared to that of emperor Nicholas I whose “Official Nationality” policy called for conduct in the spirit of “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality” (Pravoslavie, Samoderzhavie, Narodnost’). Since Putin’s presidency and Russia’s resulting slide toward political authoritarianism, Nashi and the Seliger forum have contributed to the sociopolitical wherewithal of the ruling party, commanding constant influence over society while educating the next generation of Kremlin devotees. One is inclined to draw comparisons between Nashi and the Hitler Youth, or perhaps more appropriately the Soviet Young Pioneers, due to its political devoutness to the regime, the idolization (idolatry?) of the ruling tandem of Medvedev and Putin, and its penchant for flexing its group-exercised arms in public through counter-protest and rallies in support of Kremlin initiatives.

Nashi is known for frequently challenging civic protests from Russia’s marginalized left, sometimes through the use of violence but more often drowning out protests by its sheer numbers. When Russia appears on the verge of real democracy Nashi takes up the fight against oppositional actors deemed the ‘Fifth Column’ that “blackens [their] homeland’s reputation.” Though the movement may contribute to the larger breakdown of democracy in the Russian Federation today, Nashi affiliation has its benefits for the aspiring young Russian: placement in Russia’s top universities and courses of study that can lead to jobs in government and business. The benefits for Russian civil society stop there, however, as democratic expansion and human rights play second fiddle to the group’s xenophobia and paranoia. Nashi and the Seliger camp might be less about indoctrination than it is about continuing the Soviet trend of compartmentalization, engaging the world on one occasion and protecting Russia’s historical and cultural identity “under a shell of intolerance and paranoia” on another. When real democracy creeps into Russia’s public sphere, Nashi and its pro-Kremlin affiliates do their best to repress the left’s democratic aspirations.

The fervor of the Seliger attendants and their discipline is unprecedented in Russia’s small leftist camp. Despite its marginalized status in Russian civil society the left receives a great deal of attention from western observers, as worldwide environmental and human rights activism spreads. When these domestic activists challenge Kremlin-sponsored projects or policies, however, observers fear government crackdown meant to shun dissident movements from gaining influence in society. Russia’s left recognizes this persistent threat and has decided to mimic the pro-Kremlin Seliger camp, aptly titled “Anti-Seliger,” and educate the next generation of dissidents and activists. Held for the first time in the contested Khimki forest, notable activists such as Evgeniia Chirikova, renowned for her campaign to protect the forest against the construction of a highway, and Aleksandr Navalniy, known for his fight against corruption in Russian business and government, met to discuss new methods for civil activism and prototypes for new systems of governance in an open-air forum. The addition of music groups to the mix gives the Anti-Seliger forum a decidedly Woodstock atmosphere. Fervent social and political activism coupled with contemporary musicians challenges the status quo in Russia today.

Oleg Kozyrev’s report on the Anti-Seliger forum notes four distinct outcomes of the weekend’s proceedings. First, it identified the vast network of civil activists in Russia and their willingness to cooperate and coordinate their efforts for various causes other than their own. Second, it recognized the success of activists, such as Chirikova and Navalniy, who serve as archetypes for future activists and movements. Third, the “traditional political opposition forces are willing to listen to representatives from the non-political civilian force, to help them and, in return, receive some support for themselves.” Fourth, the Anti-Seliger forum reiterated the need for civil activists to merge against the “huge bulldozer” that is Putinism, which “wants to lay the track through all of us.” Though Russia’s left remains marginalized, and activists continue to be repressed or censored in various spheres of Russian civil society, the Anti-Seliger forum removed some of the fears caused by its pro-Kremlin antithesis, and was a necessary step for oppositional movements to grow and succeed. The future of Russia’s left and its aspirations for a fair and free civil society are less bleak and, if the Kremlin does not meddle in later forums, will grant Russians decidedly better outlooks for the future.

Articles referred to in this post:

«Антиселигер зовет в Химкинский лес» (“Anti-Seliger Convenes in Khimki Forest”)

http://www.svobodanews.ru/content/article/24212711.html

«Антиселигер. Итоги» (“Anti-Seliger. Results”)

http://oleg-kozyrev.livejournal.com/3596167.html and http://echo.msk.ru/blog/gagman/786864-echo/

«Антиселигер: Первый интеллектуальный форум «несогласных» (“Anti-Seliger: First Intellectual Forum of Dissent”)

http://finam.fm/archive-view/4207/

«Антиселигер: прямая трансляция Радио Свобода» (“Anti-Seliger: Live Broadcast of Radio Svoboda”)

http://www.svobodanews.ru/content/article/24237061.html

«Все в лес!» (“Everything in the woods!”)

http://www.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=4DF879ACDD311

«Всероссийский форум Селигер 2011» (“All-Russian Seliger Forum 2011”) Official Website

http://www.forumseliger.ru

«Новый защитник» (“The New Defender”)

http://www.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=4DFC818FAC39F

«Чтобы в лес никто не влез» (“In order that no one would meddle in the woods”)

http://www.mk.ru/daily/newspaper/article/2011/06/15/597675-chtobyi-v-les-nikto-ne-vlez.html

“Anti-Seliger”

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/06/anti-seliger.html

“In Khimki Forest, Opposition Seeks a Voice”

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/in-khimki-forest-opposition-seeks-a-voice/439242.html

“Russia’s Nationalist Summer Camp”

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/08/seliger.html

“Sex for the motherland: Russian youths encouraged to procreate at camp”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-471324/Sex-motherland-Russian-youths-encouraged-procreate-camp.html