Gangs of Russia

When we think of a gang, many of us will conjure up the image of uneducated, violent young men living in the shadows of society. But what if those same young men turn out to be university educated with mainstream careers and aspirations? What if the police, rather than preventing their criminal activity, are working for them, on the side? And what if the country’s ruling elite, including the President, display an affinity with, and uses the language of gang culture?
In her eye-opening new book, Svetlana Stephenson transports us to Kazan, a city 500 miles from Moscow where gang culture is deeply entrenched. Drawing on a wealth of research and in-depth interviews with gang members, law enforcement and local residents (many carried out personally), she uncovers the evolving history, structure and practice of Russia’s street gangs from the early 1990s to the modern day.
In discovering what it takes to be a gang member (discipline, a respect for hierarchy, loyalty to one’s own), how they make their money (protection, consultancy, security, mediation services, money laundering, to name a few) and why, despite the crime and violence, gangs see themselves as upholders of justice, superior to the “amoral, egotistical and undisciplined relations of the outside world”, one thing becomes clear. Far from being socially isolated, Russian gangs have become embedded into the wider community, their connections and culture stretching right up to the top echelons of today’s Russian state.