No happy endings: Bob Seely reviews 'Z Generation'
St Petersburg, May 2023: Children carry a banner with the military symbol of Russia’s war in Ukraine | Alamy
3 min read
A disturbing account of the rise of youth fascism in Russia, Ian Garner’s book is a warning to the West that this violent nationalistic ideology is not going away any time soon – even if Putin does
In Z Generation, Ian Garner has written a readable and disturbing account of the militarisation of Russia’s youth, effectively the rise of modern fascism in Russia under president Vladimir Putin.
He tells the story through a series of individuals, of state supported and curated youth movements like Nashi – “Ours” – and puts it in the context of the evolution of Russia since the 1990s, and especially the importance of the 2012 elections in Russia.
He charts the development of “violent, misogynistic and racist” narratives, especially following the seizure of Crimea and 2014 war in east Ukraine, and highlights the importance of Putin’s speech at the Valdai conference – Russia’s Davos – where he called for a remaking of Russian identity.
The most illuminating chapters of the book deal with Russian social media and broadcast culture under state control. Garner describes Russian talk shows – Jerry-Springer-meets-Soviet-show-trials – where anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western diatribes are mixed with horror stories of child abuse and corruption. Russia’s gay community come in for particular, targeted abuse, with the language of “disease” and “decadence” used to describe them before being rolled out to apply to other enemies of the state and, above all, Ukrainians.
The new Russian narrative is that of war as a purifier
Decadence is always blamed on the West. The cure is always Russian Orthodoxy loyal to Putin’s state, whether portrayed in big budget propaganda films or idealised images of Orthodox families.
The theme throughout the new Russian narrative is that of war as a purifier, war that is healing for the fatherland and its people. Death and destruction are needed to preserve Russia’s future. It is noble, Putin told his audience after the Crimean annexation, to die for your country. Probably over 100,000 have so far done so.
Westerners unfamiliar with Russia may see Russia’s difficulties in Ukraine and believe that Putin is losing. The truth is more complex. Whilst the Kremlin’s immediate military aims to seize Kyiv and depose Zelensky failed, Putin’s wider aims – to recreate a profound Russian hostility to the West and a state of permanent conflict with it – are now in full flow. Putin’s wars, from Chechnya onwards, have allowed him to take control of the media and reshape Russian identity.
From the age of Peter the Great, Russian political identity has been bound in its relation to the West, between Westernisers and Slavophiles. Putin has mined a seam of Russian exceptionalism rooted in antipathy to the West, which sees Russian identity as messianic, communal, unfathomable and simply more moral.
Garner warns that Russian fascism isn’t going away, even if Putin does.
Whilst the language of “de-Nazification” to justify the Ukraine war may be evolving to instead emphasise the need to protect Russia’s children, “to allow them to grow up as Russian”, an angry, embittered and fascistic Russia will be with us for years.
There will be no happy endings, not even for dream Orthodox families.
Bob Seely is Conservative MP for Isle of Wight
Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia’s Fascist Youth
By: Ian Garner
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
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