Jul 15, 2018-2018
Russia
Pussy Riot #2
Share
ACTIVISTS/ACT.GROUPS/DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUP
Pussy Riot
TARGET
Putin
WIDELY HELD BELIEF
Human right abuse by govt. should be exposed to the outsiders.
CASE NARRATIVE
Issue and Opposition: Pussy Riot, a Russian feminist protest and performance art group of 11 women was founded in 2011. The group rose to fame for its anti-Putin and anti-establishment punk rock lyrics. The group’s songs were freely downloadable thus reaching a wide audience globally and nationally. The lyrics were provocative and spoke on issues that are considered taboo in Russia, such as feminism and LGBT rights. Pussy Riot’s 2018 dilemma action was targeted toward Putin in protest of Russia’s human rights abuse.
Dilemma Action: On February 15, 2018, four Pussy Riot members donned police uniforms and ran through the field disrupting the Football World Cup final match played between France and Croatia. One of the activists went on to the extent of high-fiving one of the French players on the field. Disrupting the game was an effective anti-Putin protest since Putin considered the World Cup an important event for Russia and a diplomatic win. It was a great opportunity for him to showcase Russia’s hospitality to the world.
This was not the first time that Pussy Riot members had organized an action to protest against Putin or the corrupt systems under his administration. In an earlier instance, on February 21, 2012, five members of Pussy Riot made national and international headlines when they performed inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. They chose the church to be the venue for the action because of its support of Putin during the election.
Outcome: Three activists were arrested by the Russian police (the fourth activist could not run through the field as he was restrained by the sideline) but by their daring action, they could successfully draw attention to how Putin’s Russia imprisoned and punished dissenters even for doing as much as posting “likes” on social media posts criticizing Putin. Later, Pussy Riot published their four-point demands. These were: (1) free all political prisoners; (2) stop illegal arrests at public rallies; (3) allow political competition in the country; and (4) stop fabricating criminal cases and jailing people on remand. To the extent that the group wanted global media and diplomatic attention and public sympathy, their action was effective. However, their action did not go unpunished. The government retaliated by arresting and jailing the activists. The arrest of the activists further emphasized the points they were making. No concessions were made and it is doubtful if any of their demands were ever met.
PRIMARY STRUGGLE/GOAL
NONVIOLENT TACTICS USED
DA TACTICS USED
Nonviolent invasion
CASE NARRATIVE WRITER
SUCCESS METRICS
9 / 12
(MC) Media Coverage
(MSYMP) Media coverage was sympathetic to the activists
(OR) Opponent response
(PS) Dilemma action built sympathy with the public
(PUN) Punishment favored the activists
(REFR) Dilemma action reframed the narrative of the opponent
(RF) Dilemma action reduced fear and/or apathy among the activists
(SA) Dilemma action appealed to a broad segment of the public
Laugtivism
PART OF A LARGER CAMPAIGN
3 / 3
Activist group continued working together after the action
Encouraged more participants to join the movement
Internally replicated by the same movement
RESOURCES
Project documentation
Dilemma Actions Coding Guidebook
Case study documentation
Dilemma_Actions_Analysis_Dataset
SOURCES
Cadwalladr, Carole. 2012. “Anti-Putin Protests Have Swept Russia Since Late Last Year. None Has Caused as Much Fuss as the Smart, Cool Punks from Pussy Riot,” The Observer (London). Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Lerner, Mike, and Maxim Pozdorovkin. 2014. “Pussy Riot : a punk prayer,” HBO Documentary. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Jonson, Lena. 2016. “Post-Pussy Riot: Art and Protest in Russia Today.” Nationalities papers. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Hammond, Barbara J. 2020. “We Are Pussy Riot or Everything Is P.R. :a Play About the Most Famous Performance Art Piece in History,” Dramatists Play Service. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Rourke, Brian, and Andrew Wiget. 2016. “Pussy Riot, Putin and the Politics of Embodiment.” Cultural studies (London, England). Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Sharafutdinova, Gulnaz. 2014. “The Pussy Riot Affair and Putin’s Démarche from Sovereign Democracy to Sovereign Morality.” Nationalities papers. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Johnson, Janet Elise. 2014. “Pussy Riot as a Feminist Project: Russia’s Gendered Informal Politics.” Nationalities papers. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Smyth, Regina, and Irina Soboleva. 2014. “Looking Beyond the Economy: Pussy Riot and the Kremlin’s Voting Coalition.” Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Bernstein, Anya. 2013. “An Inadvertent Sacrifice: Body Politics and Sovereign Power in the Pussy Riot Affair.” Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Sperling, Valerie. 2014. “Russian Feminist Perspectives on Pussy Riot.” Nationalities papers. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Bashir, Manaf, and Maria Fedorova. 2015. “Framing the Pussy Riot Between the USA and Russia: Freedom Fighters or Anarchy Promoters?” Journal of international communication. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
James Sullivan. 2018. “Punk and Protest from Pussy Riot, Putin’s Least Favorite Band.” The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Suzanne Moore. 2012. “G2: Suzanne Moore: Pussy Riot, Who Face Prison in Russia for Their Anti-Putin Protest, Are a Reminder That Revolution Always Begins in Culture.” The Guardian (London). Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Henderson, Barney. 2012. “Pussy Riot Women Sent to the Gulag for Putin Protest.” Daily Telegraph (London, England). Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Gerasimenko, O. 2018. “Russia World Cup: How Pussy Riot managed to burst into final,” BBC. Retrieved July 23, 2023. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44886550).
Stewart, E. 2018. “World Cup final protesters claimed by Pussy Riot,” Vox. Retrieved July 23, 2023. (https://www.vox.com/world/2018/7/15/17573668/what-is-pussy-riot-world-cup-mbappe).
Hindustan Times. 2018. “Pussy Riot upstages Vladimir Putin with protest that halted FIFA World Cup 2018 final,” Retrieved July 23, 2023. (https://www.hindustantimes.com/football/pussy-riot-upstages-vladimir-putin-with-protest-that-halted-fifa-world-cup-2018-final/story-jmEas2Gk4TLxMiy3ItryIP.html).
NDTV Sports. 2018. “FIFA World Cup 2018: Russia’s Pussy Riot Claim World Cup Pitch Invasion,” Retrieved July 23, 2023. (https://sports.ndtv.com/2018-fifa-world-cup/fifa-world-cup-2018-russias-pussy-riot-claim-world-cup-pitch-invasion0883743).
Related cases
Oct 1, 2010-2010
India
Issue and Opposition: New Delhi roads are highly mismanaged. India hosted the Commonwealth Games in October 2010. Although the Delhi government got ample chance to rai...
/
Jul 8, 2002-2002
Nigeria
Chevron had long operated in Nigeria with a track record of polluting the land after oil spills and not supporting the community. The poverty in the area was extreme. ...
/
Apr 30, 2009-2009
Kenya
From 2007–to 2008, Kenya went through a crisis after the reelection of Mwai Kibaki in the December parliamentary election. Kibaki’s victory in this election was marred...
/
Subscribe to our newsletters to get full access to all materials on our website.