Flexible Authoritarianism - Cultivating Ambition and Loyalty in Russia

Flexible Authoritarianism challenges the idea that the transnational rise of authoritarianism is a backlash against economic globalization and neoliberal capitalism. Flexible authoritarianism--a form of government that simultaneously incentivizes a can-do spirit and suppresses dissent--reflects the resonance between authoritarian and neoliberal ideologies in today''s comeback of strongman rule. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, Anna Schwenk critically evaluates how loyalty to the regime--the order underlying political and economic life in a polity--is produced and contested among those young people who seek key positions in politics, business, the public sector, or creative industries.