#6226
[Second Issue of the Day]
#8
Yezhenedelny Zhurnal
No. 16
April 30, 2002
SKINHEADS ON THE INSIDE
It is important for society to be immune to the neo-nazis
Author: Leonid Sedov
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]
THE NEO-NAZI SKINHEAD MOVEMENT IS A VERY DISTURBING PHENOMENON. HOWEVER, AS A SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FORCE, IT HAS NO FUTURE. THOSE WHO HOLD SUCH VIEWS AND ALSO HAVE SOME POWER ARE MUCH MORE DANGEROUS: THE POLICE WHO MALTREAT NON-SLAVIC PEOPLE AND REGIONAL LEADERS WHO "PURGE" THEIR REGIONS.
Theoretically, the skinhead movement is no mystery or something unique: existence of such subcultures, aggressive, worshiping force, and dividing everything into "ours" and "theirs" is well-known. Members of such youth troops may be skinheads or wear long hair - the most important thing here is that their heads are skinned from the inside and can be filled with anything, very often most absurd things. Actually the fact that heads of skins are filled with Hitler and they wear swastikas on their sleeves rather prevents them from wining open public support and from becoming a socially significant movement. Skinheads are not dangerous in themselves, it is the state of the society that allows such movement appear that is dangerous.
In short, there are rebellious young, including fascists, in any society, like in any body there are Koch bacillus. However, if a healthy body is immune at them and does not allow the disease to develop, in a weakened body the disease will damage all organs.
In healthy democratic societies skinheads are mostly marginal and their activity is effectively neutralized by the police or indignant citizens. Unfortunately, the Russia society does not have such immunity, which is proved by multiple data received in the course of public opinion polls. First, the Russian society does not resist to xenophobia of the neo-Nazis who hate people of other nationalities and races and extol their own national merits, belonging to Russians or Slavs. Overall, it is characteristic of teenagers' psychology to be proud of not their own achievements and individual peculiarities, but of belonging to some strong and powerful grouping, in our instance, to a nation or a state. If this is characteristic of the society as a whole - and in today's Russia the worries about losing the former power are extremely painful - it is impossible to say it is a "grownup" society. Such "teenage" characteristics makes the society closer to the skinhead movement and turns it into a youth "super- grouping" with dangerous extremist inclinations.
The results of the All-Russia Center for Public Opinion Research polls demonstrate that the Russian society is really in such condition at present.
It is very revealing that 16% of respondents, who represent approximately 17 million of adult Russian citizens, support the skinheads' neo-nazi slogan: "Russia for Russians". If we add about 1.5 million 13-18-year-olds who are also infected with this ideology (given that the number of radicals in this age category is the same as among adults), we will be able to understand what the numbers of the extremists in Russia are. By the way, according to February opinion polls, about 14% of respondents - almost as many as those who support the "Russia for Russians" slogan - were very satisfied when they heard of the pogroms at Moscow markets, and 11% of them believe it is the "only way of fighting the influx of people from the Caucasus into Russian cities."
It is also interesting that about a third of the relatively moderate people, 34%, who disapprove of such pogrom methods still believe pogroms are inevitable "as long as people from the Caucasus fell themselves masters in Russian cities", and every fourth respondent states "it is the fault of newcomers people treat them badly". No wonder two third (70% in Moscow) of February poll respondents stated that "people from the Caucasus must be forbidden to enter my city or my district."
It is also interesting to analyze who the attitude of the people toward the Chechen war changed and how it influenced the inter- ethnical relations. Russians considered the first Chechen war to be an international war and then a third of respondents were concerned about the deterioration of international relations. Society is less concerned about the second Chechen war, 24% against 43% before conclusion of the Khasavyurt peace agreement, and due to certain propaganda efforts it is not accepted as an international war; and today only 7% are concerned about relations between ethnic groups. This makes it obvious that Russian society has become insensitive to its own nationalism and it is concerned only when the nationalism infection affects some ethnic minority.
Undoubtedly, the activities of the skinhead movement are very disturbing. However, it is still not a political level, and as a social and political force skinheads have as little future as Barkashov's supporters, who are fighting among themselves and the half-broken Pamyat group. Those who share their nationalist views and have some power as well are much more dangerous: the police who maltreat non-Slavic people and impose all kinds of extortion on them; regional leaders who "purge" their regions from people with non-Slavic names; and deputies who create a "legislative" basis for such actions. It is here, not among skinhead hooligans, where forces may appear, which will be able to make xenophobia into state policy.
President Putin mentioned extremist organizations in his annual address to parliament; however, he said nothing about the roots of this phenomenon.
If Vladimir Putin, whose popularity is very high, publicly and distinctly spoke out his attitude toward the actions of the Krasnodar governor, it would be much more effective than empty threats against stupid hooligans.
(Translated by Arina Yevtikhova)
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