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Counterculture, Political Technology, and the Emergence of the Russian Alt-Right Media

Thu, November 5, 4:00 to 5:30pm, Virtual Convention Platform, Room 4

Abstract

This paper is part of a lightning round, "The Post-Soviet Public Sphere: Assembling a Digital Multimedia Sourcebook of the Russian 1990s." How did "post-truth" and radical relativism emerge in post-Soviet media? Using artifacts drawn from television, radio, alternative newspapers, footage of art performances and direct actions, and fringe political websites, I argue that ironic and provocative expressions like Sergey Kuryokhin’s “Lenin was a mushroom” hoax challenged the predominantly neoliberal rhetoric of the early 1990s. Combining Soviet countercultural modes with totalitarian ideologies, anti-Westernism, and neo-traditionalism, these provocations ultimately contributed to the rise of “political technology” and online manipulation of public opinion — practices that achieved international resonance during the 2016 US
presidential election.

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