Historic Heritage and Petitioning in the Context of the Run-up to International Summits in Russia

Neoliberalism entangles all states, including liberal democratic ones, in capitalist market economies. This restricts citizens indirect action—voting, petitioning, influencing public opinion, participating in public hearings, and protesting (Warren, 2002).  I consider the ways in which in Russia, after the mass protests against the unfair elections and, more generally, the Putin regime of 2011–2012 were suppressed, society resorted to on-line petitioning. In particular, I look at the public response to the international summits held in many cities . Events-related social and cultural policy becomes a contested issue in the context of closely entangled economic development and political representation functions. If some summits held in the West provoked fierce street protests, the summits held in Russia are widely and critically discussed online. Some intellectuals actively resist being complicit in the entrepreneurial discourse in their work and alternative discourses emerge. These discourses emerge by way of petitioning authorities. The lack of regulations regarding the predicament of evicted citizens; the absence of a program for the preservation of the cultural heritage of the city; an urgent remapping of the so-called “guarded zones” to accommodate the summits-related pressure to have enough vacant lots; and “a mess” (the metaphor of one of the interviewees) instead of systematic and logical administrative law making—all these factors contribute to an increased “client-patron mentality” among active citizens. By “client-patron mentality” I mean the active citizens’ and political activists’ reliance on petitioning as the way for themselves to be heard and to get things done.  Whether it is the only effective means to prompt the patrons to share a piece of the state budget pie or a quite efficient way to engage more public into discussions, petitioning prompts us to more closely look at the ambiguities behind genuine citizen participation.