"Russia in four criminals", new book by Federico Varese

Russia in Four Criminals, by Federico Varese, Polity, September 2024.  

Description

Corruption on an immense scale and the unscrupulous use of law enforcement have left indelible marks on post-Soviet Russia. Federico Varese reveals the scars of these grim decades through an unusual lens: its criminal history.

Varese weaves together the tales of four criminals, each emblematic of a different decade and social group within the country. We encounter a traditional mobster, an oligarch, an incarcerated drug-dealer who obtained horrifying videos depicting torture behind bars, and the mastermind behind the world’s most potent computer virus. In delving into their lives, we witness the transformation of Russia from the late Soviet period, through the tumultuous years of Boris Yeltsin’s presidency, to the authoritarian era of Vladimir Putin. This new era, Varese shows, represents the pinnacle of a violent transition to democracy built on widespread theft, suppression of dissent, and the unholy alliance between crime and politics. The West chose to overlook these unfolding abuses, unwaveringly supporting first Yeltsin and then Putin. Now we have awakened to the grim reality, but the realization has come too late.

Russia in Four Criminals is an innovative and compelling account of one of the most tragic developments of modern history.

Author

Federico Varese is Professor of Sociology at Sciences Po and researcher at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE). His research interests include organized crime, corruption, Soviet criminal history, social network analysis, and analytical social theory. He previously published three award-winning books, The Russian Mafia. Private Protection in a New Market Economy (2001), Mafias on the Move: How Organized Crime Conquers New Territories (2011) and Mafia Life. Love, Death and Money at the Heart of Organised Crime (2018).

Reviews and interviews

Vic Peterson reviews ‘Russia in Four Criminals’ by Frederico Verese, Rights in Russia, 18 September 2024

From Yeltsin to Putin: how Russia’s organised crime became inseparable from politics, interview by Hugo Rasch for Follow the money, 29 September 2024

Inside the criminal state of Russia*, review by Paul Monk for The Australian, 5 October 2024

Non-fiction pick of the week*, The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 October 2024

* subscribers only

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