Svetlana Stephenson
Biographic Data
| ID | 86728 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Svetlana Stephenson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Svetlana |
| FAMILY NAME | Stephenson |
| SIGNATURE | STEPHENSON S |
| AFFILIATIONS | London Metropolitan University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5249-8160 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 45 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The end of the ‘time of the streets’
We present the analysis of two biographical narratives by an ex-gangster from the Russian city of Kazan. We address the different times in his life – his childhood, youth, and adulthood, his time on the streets, his decision to leave the gang, and his reflections and memories of his past as reconstructed through these different narratives. We analyze the synchronicity of macro, meso, and micro scales of time in his biography and show how his memo…
Vile Sovereignty
In this paper we seek to extend Bakhtin’s reading of the folk carnival and apply it to help understand the carnivalesque, performative aspects of state power. Drawing on the work of Agamben, Foucault, Lacan and Žižek and recent scholarship on the role of laughter in the Stalinist totalitarian culture, we argue that the state can also laugh and that it has its own carnival tradition as well. To explore what we propose to call the carnival of power…
From Moral Indignation to Affective Citizenship
The article analyzes the public shaming campaigns that followed celebrity emigration from Russia at the beginning of the war against Ukraine. It shows that celebrity emigration represented a challenge to the construction of a nation morally and emotionally united around the war. The special status of celebrities in modern society as figures that provide the public with a focus of common identification and attention makes celebrity emigration duri…
A Bergsonian analysis of time in qualitative research
Understanding of how time is experienced is essential when conducting qualitative research. This article explores how time seemingly stands still, speeds up, slows down, rewinds and fast-forwards for the participants in our qualitative investigations. Drawing upon interview data with street homeless people in Moscow, Russia, this article examines the ways in which time is contextualized and used by research participants to make sense of their eve…
Zones of Entrapment and Impunity
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 again…
Gangs and governance in Russia
The paper addresses the nature of gang governance. It questions the notion that gangs regulate social and economic transactions and create stable orders in certain territories. It shows that, while presenting themselves as upholders of the ‘law’ in their territory, the gangs also create a climate of uncertainty and fear. The gangs manipulate their own unwritten rules and set up traps for residents and businessmen. These traps are designed to depr…
Everyday Law in Russia
It takes two to tango
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 …
Gangs of Russia
Since their spectacular rise in the 1990s, Russian gangs have remained entrenched in many parts of the country. Some gang members have perished in gang wars or ended up behind prison bars, while others have made spectacular careers off the streets and joined the Russian elite. But the rank and file of gangs remain substantially incorporated into their communities and society as a whole, with bonds and identities that bridge the worlds of illegal …
Youth and Social Change in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union
The Violent Practices of Youth Territorial Groups in Moscow
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 maste…
The Kazan Leviathan
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 tradit…
Youth and social change in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union
Two decades have now passed since the revolutions of 1989 swept through Eastern Europe and precipitated the collapse of state socialism across the region, engendering a period of massive social, ec
Can the European Court's Pilot Judgment Procedure Help Resolve Systemic Human Rights Violations? Burdov and the Failure to Implement Domestic Court Decisions in Russia
Pity poor Anatoliy Burdov! He has had to take the protracted route to Strasbourg—not once, but twice—in trying to uphold his rights. It is more than 20 years since he was called up by the military authorities to help clear up after the Chernobyl disaster. His fight for state benefits—due to him because of his exposure to radioactive emissions—still continues. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered judgment in his first case in 2002,…
Djeca ulice u Moskvi
Clanak analizira strategije moskovske djece beskucnika u svezi s akumulacijom socijalnog kapitala. Na temelju nedavnih empirijskih istraživanja, clanak proucava ukljucenost djece u nekriminalne i kriminalne supkulture kao nacin stjecanja pristupa važnim mrežama i resursima, te pokazuje kako mlade osobe rabe svoje socijalne vjestine i odgovarajuce supkulturne norme i vrijednosti kako bi izgradile alternativne karijere. Clanak pokazuje da socijalno…
Street Children in Moscow
The paper analyses the strategies of homeless street children in Moscow connected with the accumulation of social capital. Based on recent empirical research, it looks at the involvement of children in non-criminal and criminal subcultures as a way to get access to important networks and resources, and shows how young people use their social skills and appropriate subcultural norms and values in order to build alternative careers. It demonstrates…
Public Beliefs in the Causes of Wealth and Poverty and Legitimization of Inequalities in Russia and Estonia
Dmitriy Gromov. AUE
17 августа 2020 года Верховный суд РФ признал «хорошо структурированную и управляемую организацию» «Арестантское уголовное единство» экстремистской организацией (РБК 2020). Наконец, после нескольких лет обсуждений на разных уровнях государственной власти, после многочисленных законодательных инициатив, публикаций СМИ и ведомственных инструкций законодатель нанес мощнейший удар по этому рассаднику молодежной преступности. Подавляющее большинство –…
Street Children in Moscow
The paper analyses the strategies of homeless street children in Moscow connected with the accumulation of social capital. Based on recent empirical research, it looks at the involvement of children in non-criminal and criminal subcultures as a way to get access to important networks and resources, and shows how young people use their social skills and appropriate subcultural norms and values in order to build alternative careers. It demonstrates…
Public Beliefs in the Causes of Wealth and Poverty and Legitimization of Inequalities in Russia and Estonia
It takes two to tango
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 …
Youth and social change in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union
Two decades have now passed since the revolutions of 1989 swept through Eastern Europe and precipitated the collapse of state socialism across the region, engendering a period of massive social, ec
Can the European Court's Pilot Judgment Procedure Help Resolve Systemic Human Rights Violations? Burdov and the Failure to Implement Domestic Court Decisions in Russia
Pity poor Anatoliy Burdov! He has had to take the protracted route to Strasbourg—not once, but twice—in trying to uphold his rights. It is more than 20 years since he was called up by the military authorities to help clear up after the Chernobyl disaster. His fight for state benefits—due to him because of his exposure to radioactive emissions—still continues. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered judgment in his first case in 2002,…
Vile Sovereignty
In this paper we seek to extend Bakhtin’s reading of the folk carnival and apply it to help understand the carnivalesque, performative aspects of state power. Drawing on the work of Agamben, Foucault, Lacan and Žižek and recent scholarship on the role of laughter in the Stalinist totalitarian culture, we argue that the state can also laugh and that it has its own carnival tradition as well. To explore what we propose to call the carnival of power…
Zones of Entrapment and Impunity
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 again…
The Violent Practices of Youth Territorial Groups in Moscow
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 maste…
The Kazan Leviathan
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 tradit…
Public Beliefs in the Causes of Wealth and Poverty and Legitimization of Inequalities in Russia and Estonia
Street Children in Moscow
The paper analyses the strategies of homeless street children in Moscow connected with the accumulation of social capital. Based on recent empirical research, it looks at the involvement of children in non-criminal and criminal subcultures as a way to get access to important networks and resources, and shows how young people use their social skills and appropriate subcultural norms and values in order to build alternative careers. It demonstrates…
Djeca ulice u Moskvi
Clanak analizira strategije moskovske djece beskucnika u svezi s akumulacijom socijalnog kapitala. Na temelju nedavnih empirijskih istraživanja, clanak proucava ukljucenost djece u nekriminalne i kriminalne supkulture kao nacin stjecanja pristupa važnim mrežama i resursima, te pokazuje kako mlade osobe rabe svoje socijalne vjestine i odgovarajuce supkulturne norme i vrijednosti kako bi izgradile alternativne karijere. Clanak pokazuje da socijalno…
Youth and social change in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union
Two decades have now passed since the revolutions of 1989 swept through Eastern Europe and precipitated the collapse of state socialism across the region, engendering a period of massive social, ec
Can the European Court's Pilot Judgment Procedure Help Resolve Systemic Human Rights Violations? Burdov and the Failure to Implement Domestic Court Decisions in Russia
Pity poor Anatoliy Burdov! He has had to take the protracted route to Strasbourg—not once, but twice—in trying to uphold his rights. It is more than 20 years since he was called up by the military authorities to help clear up after the Chernobyl disaster. His fight for state benefits—due to him because of his exposure to radioactive emissions—still continues. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered judgment in his first case in 2002,…
The Kazan Leviathan
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 tradit…
The Violent Practices of Youth Territorial Groups in Moscow
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 maste…
Youth and Social Change in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union
Gangs of Russia
Since their spectacular rise in the 1990s, Russian gangs have remained entrenched in many parts of the country. Some gang members have perished in gang wars or ended up behind prison bars, while others have made spectacular careers off the streets and joined the Russian elite. But the rank and file of gangs remain substantially incorporated into their communities and society as a whole, with bonds and identities that bridge the worlds of illegal …
It takes two to tango
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 …
Everyday Law in Russia
Gangs and governance in Russia
The paper addresses the nature of gang governance. It questions the notion that gangs regulate social and economic transactions and create stable orders in certain territories. It shows that, while presenting themselves as upholders of the ‘law’ in their territory, the gangs also create a climate of uncertainty and fear. The gangs manipulate their own unwritten rules and set up traps for residents and businessmen. These traps are designed to depr…
Zones of Entrapment and Impunity
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 again…
Dmitriy Gromov. AUE
17 августа 2020 года Верховный суд РФ признал «хорошо структурированную и управляемую организацию» «Арестантское уголовное единство» экстремистской организацией (РБК 2020). Наконец, после нескольких лет обсуждений на разных уровнях государственной власти, после многочисленных законодательных инициатив, публикаций СМИ и ведомственных инструкций законодатель нанес мощнейший удар по этому рассаднику молодежной преступности. Подавляющее большинство –…
Vile Sovereignty
In this paper we seek to extend Bakhtin’s reading of the folk carnival and apply it to help understand the carnivalesque, performative aspects of state power. Drawing on the work of Agamben, Foucault, Lacan and Žižek and recent scholarship on the role of laughter in the Stalinist totalitarian culture, we argue that the state can also laugh and that it has its own carnival tradition as well. To explore what we propose to call the carnival of power…
From Moral Indignation to Affective Citizenship
The article analyzes the public shaming campaigns that followed celebrity emigration from Russia at the beginning of the war against Ukraine. It shows that celebrity emigration represented a challenge to the construction of a nation morally and emotionally united around the war. The special status of celebrities in modern society as figures that provide the public with a focus of common identification and attention makes celebrity emigration duri…
A Bergsonian analysis of time in qualitative research
Understanding of how time is experienced is essential when conducting qualitative research. This article explores how time seemingly stands still, speeds up, slows down, rewinds and fast-forwards for the participants in our qualitative investigations. Drawing upon interview data with street homeless people in Moscow, Russia, this article examines the ways in which time is contextualized and used by research participants to make sense of their eve…
The end of the ‘time of the streets’
We present the analysis of two biographical narratives by an ex-gangster from the Russian city of Kazan. We address the different times in his life – his childhood, youth, and adulthood, his time on the streets, his decision to leave the gang, and his reflections and memories of his past as reconstructed through these different narratives. We analyze the synchronicity of macro, meso, and micro scales of time in his biography and show how his memo…
Political science (14 works) · Law (12 works) · Politics (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Economics (7 works) · Criminology (6 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Political economy (5 works) · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control (4 works)