RUSSIA’S OTHER WAR: PATRIARCHAL CULTURE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. THE #ЯНЕБОЮСЬСКАЗАТЬ (#IAMNOTAFRAIDTOSPEAK) JULY 2016 CAMPAIGN ON VKONTAKTE
RUSSIA’S OTHER WAR: PATRIARCHAL CULTURE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. THE #ЯНЕБОЮСЬСКАЗАТЬ (#IAMNOTAFRAIDTOSPEAK) JULY 2016 CAMPAIGN ON VKONTAKTE

Summary/Abstract: This article is dedicated to a controversial topic for Russian society, namely the campaign #ЯнеБоюсьСказать (#IamNotAfraidToSpeak) that took place in VKontakte’s Russian speaking community in July 2016. First the article is based on a theoretical framework that draws attention to the concept of contentious politics and feminist movement. Second, I analysed the messages associated with #IamNotAfraidToSpeak, and argue that the campaign raised the visibility of the problem of domestic violence and patriarchal culture in the post-Soviet Russia, and this helped increase the significance of women’s linguistic agency and made #IamNotAfraidToSpeak the first large-scale feminist movement in Russia. Moreover, in addition to the theoretical background, the paper focuses on a case study: The #ЯНеБоюсьСказать(#IAmNotAfraidToSpeak) campaign of July 2016 on VKontakte.

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