Freedom of Speech in Russia : Politics and Media From Gorbachev to Putin

This book traces the life of free speech in Russia from the final years of the Soviet Union to the present. It shows how long-cherished hopes for an open society in which people would speak freely and tell truth to power fared under Gorbachev's glasnost, how free speech was a real, if fractured, achievement of Yeltsin's years in power, and how easily it was for Putin to reverse these newly-won freedoms, imposing a ‘patrimonial' media that sits comfortably with old autocratic and feudal traditions, sustained by nationalism and imperialism. The book explores why this turn seemed so inexorable and now seems so entrenched. It examines the historical legacy and Russia's culturally ambivalent perception and evaluation of freedom, which Dostoyevsky called that ‘terrible gift'. It evaluates the allure of Western consumerism and Soviet-era illusions that stunted the initial promise of freedom and democracy. The behaviour of journalists and their apparent complicity in the distortion of their profession come under scrutiny. This ambitious study covering 30 years of radical change looks at responses ‘from above' and ‘from below', and asks if the players truly understood what was involved in the practice of free speech.