ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the situation of racist skinhead groups or gangs in Moscow and describes the structural, cultural, and political conditions that influence the particular cultural choice of young people to be racist. Appearing in the late 1980s to early 1990s as a ‘product’ of cultural globalisation, racist skinheads soon became the centre of public fears, media attention, and policy concerns. The existence of hate-based violence was virtually ignored by public officials, police, and scholars, and it was mainly journalists and human rights activists that attracted attention to this phenomenon. According to the latter, skinheads in Russia number close to 70,000 people; in Moscow and the surrounding suburbs, this amounts to 12,000–15,000 people, which is three times higher than in 2005. These figures notably contrast with the police statistics: law-enforcement agencies registered 147 skinhead groups with about 10,000 members in Russia. 1
