Seeking a Politics of Solidarity in Putin’s Russia
In a Country Where Nothing Changes, a 23-Year-Old Finds Hope Outside the Electoral System
In 2013, when I was 13, one of the oldest comedy TV programs in Russia released a sketch in which a group of musicians performed a version of Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” satirizing the country.
The lyrics went: “The roads in this country are like cars in this country. Like the salaries, the football, the communal services, and, of course, the cinema …” When Freddie Mercury sang “God knows,” it was twisted to sound like the Russian equivalent of “shit.”
As the audience laughed, another actor approached the band to …
