Representation and Self-Empowerment

The article introduces the forms of political and social representation which were specific to the recent Russian civil protests. The analysis is based on numerous interviews with protesters and observation of evolution of the movement. The data put in to question the frequently referenced "crisis" of representation and bring to light a variety of coordination centers set in competition for a political mandate of the protest movement, as far as a vague will of a considerable part of protesters to be represented. Media coverage of the street rallies, including their global attribution to a "middle class", is critically examined along with the protesters' own statements and rallies agenda, in order to check the presence of an actual social or revolutionary representation. The article reveals the way a break with apparatus and hegemonic models of collective action realized in current mobilization provides it with new (in the Russian context) forms of political subjectivity based on self-empowerment and self-test. Non-trivial international comparisons are used in order to specify typological features of the Russian case.