Contesting National Morals at Pushkin Square
Pushkin Square that memorialises Russian author and playwright, Alexander Pushkin. Pushkin is considered the founder of modern Russian literature. Since 1937, Pushkin’s statue has stood tall in the centre of this square, which was renamed for him accordingly. Pushkin Square is also centrally-located and very highly-frequented, making it a visible site for protests.
On 14 March 2007, during the wave of Russian opposition protests, a march of 3,000 started at Pushkin square, even after authorities denied them permission to use this site. Protesters called for a new president and for the police to have less power. Approximately 9,000 riot police were deployed, far outnumbering the demonstrators., and arresting many protesters, including former chess champion Kasparov(1). This protest was noteworthy for the violence of the clash between police and civilians.
On 12 June 2012, Pushkin Square was used again for a protest against Putin’s re-election, again amidst tension over civilians’ permission to use this site.(2) In response to the application for this demonstration, the police raided the houses of and arrested several organisers. Tens of thousands attended this march regardless.
The Dissenter’s Marches of 2006-2007 and the Free Election demonstrations of 2011-2013 protested deep-seated elements of Russia’s political governance and demanded holistic structural changes. It seems particularly fitting that these weighty moral and political issues were disputed at Pushkin Square, under the watch or shadow of a man whom Gorky characterised as “a man who felt that for him the interests of the entire nation were above the narrow interests of the aristocracy”(3), even though he had been born into the Moscow aristocracy.
Citations
(1) Kramer, Andrew. “Former chess champion is arrested at protest march in Moscow.” The New York Times, 15 Apr 2007.
(2) --. “Russians turn out in the thousands to protest against Vladimir Putin.” The Guardian. 12 June 2012.
(3) Gorky, Maxim. “Pushkin: An Appraisal.” 1937.