Russia's Skinheads Exploring and Rethinking Subcultural Lives [Hardcover]

Russias Skinheads: Exploring and Rethinking Subcultural Livesprovides a thorough examination of the phenomenon of skinheads, explaining its nature and its significance, and assessing how far Russian skinhead subculture is the lumpen end of the extreme nationalist ideological spectrum. There are large numbers of skinheads in Russia, responsible for a significant number of xenophobic attacks, including 97 deaths in 2008 alone, making this book relevant to Russian specialists as well as to sociologists of youth subculture. It provides a practical example of how to investigate youth subculture in depth over an extended period  in this case through empirical research following a specific group over six years  and goes on to argue that Russian skinhead subculture is not a direct import from the West, and that youth cultural practices should not be reduced to expressions of consumer choice. It presents an understanding of the Russian skinhead as a product of individuals whole, and evolving, lives, and thereby compels sociologists to rethink how they conceive the nature of subcultures.

1. Introduction: Rethinking skinhead lives Hilary Pilkington  Part 1: Growing up in a harsh climate  2. The weight of the Vorkuta sky: Placing youth cultural identities Hilary Pilkington  3. At home I was a nobody: The roots (and limits) of skinhead solidarity Elena Omelchenko 4. Upgrading: Cultural interests and strategies Albina Garifzianova Part 2:The meaning(s) of skinhead  5. Skinhead is a movement of action: Ideology and political engagement Hilary Pilkington 6. Any skinhead likes to fight: Ritual, racist and symbolic violence Hilary Pilkington  7. NlC#