Polit-Tusovka
Youth and Counter Public in St. Petersburg
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
St. Petersburg is home to the discussion club Polit-Gramota. The club sees itself as an alternative public space that offers young people the opportunity to discuss politics and society freely. At the same time, they acquire the skills needed for a career in journalism, civil society, and politics. Even at the height of the political polarisation that accompanied the mass protests against election fraud in the winter of 2011-12, Polit-Gramota was able to maintain its neutrality and guarantee pluralism. This protects free spaces for expression in an authoritarian state and lets young people, who are ignored in mainstream politics, be heard.
(Osteuropa 11-12/2013, pp. 183–196)