Freedom of Speech in Russia - 9781138787667

Taylor & Francis

Freedom of Speech in RussiaPolitics and Media from Gorbachev to Putin\nAuthor(s): Daphne Skillen\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Routledge\nISBN-13: 9781138787667, 978-1138787667\nSynopsis\nThis 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 Gorbachevs glasnost; how free speech was a real, if fractured, achievement of Yeltsins years in power; and how easy it was for Putin to reverse these newly won freedoms, imposing a patrimonial media that sits comfortably with old autocratic and feudal traditions. The book explores why this turn seemed so inexorable and now seems so entrenched. It examines the historical legacy, and Russias culturally ambivalent perception of freedom, which Dostoyevsky called that terrible gift. It evaluates the allure of western consumer.