“The Defenders of Shiyes”: traditionalism as a mobilisation resource in a Russian protest camp

Abstract

ABSTRACT Between August 2018 and January 2021, the Shiyes railway station in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia became the site of numerous protests against the construction of a landfill. At the core of the mobilisation was a protest camp near the construction site, where activists confronted the police and security guards. Through an analysis of self-made online narratives on the protest camp, this paper explores the framing strategies of the camp's daily routine and significant events. Paper demonstrates the incorporation of traditionalism as an ideological resource in the narratives on gender, spirituality, militarism, geographic identity, and postcolonialism.