Morvan Lallouet, PhD candidate at the University of Kent, has just collaborated on an account of Navalny, Russia’s famous dissident.
A collaboration with Jan Matti Dollbaum, a postdoctoral researcher at Bremen University, specialising in activism and civil society in Russia and Ben Noble a Lecturer in Russian Politics at University College London and an Associate Fellow at Chatham House, the title has been published by Hurst this August.
Navalny has been described by The Wall Street Journal as ‘the man Vladimir Putin fears most’, and he avoids directly referring to Navalny by name. Poisoned in August 2020 and transported to Germany for treatment, Navalny returned to Russia in January 2021 in the full glare of the world media. His immediate detention at passport control set the stage for an explosive showdown with Vladimir Putin.
‘Navalny means very different things to different people.’ Lallouet told us ‘To some, he is a democratic hero. To others, he is betraying the Motherland. To others still, he is a dangerous nationalist. This book explores the many dimensions of Navalny’s political life, from his pioneering anti-corruption investigations to his ideas and leadership of a political movement. It also looks at how his activities and the Kremlin’s strategies have shaped one another.
‘Our book makes sense of this divisive character, revealing the contradictions of a man who is the second most important political figure in Russia—even when behind bars. In order to understand modern Russia, you need to understand Alexei Navalny.’
This is the first book published in English on Alexei Navalny and his movement. Written for a general audience, the authors hope that it will help readers make sense of one the most fascinating characters in Russian politics.