Antropologicheskij forum, 2019, no. 40

A Review of SVETLANA STEPHENSON, GANGS OF RUSSIA: FROM THE STREETS TO THE CORRIDORS OF POWER. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2015, 288 pp.

Maria Kalinkina
European University at St Petersburg
6/1А Gagarinskaya Str ., St Petersburg, Russia
mkalinkina()eu.spb.ru

Abstract: This review examines the book “Gangs of Russia: From the Streets to the Corridors of Power” written by Svetlana Stephenson. To demonstrate the patterns of the gangs’ evolution from street peer groups to organized criminal communities, Stephenson analyzes Kazan street gangs, focusing on the hierarchy and gang members’ life trajectories. The review explores Stephenson’s theoretical framework that considers the reasons of the gangs’ origin, structure and moral code.

Keywords: street youth, gangs, street organization, criminal communities, violence, code of conduct, post-Soviet studies.

To cite: Kalinkina M., ‘A Review of Svetlana Stephenson, Gangs of Russia: From the Streets to the Corridors of Power. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2015, 288 pp.’, Antropologicheskij forum, 2019, no. 40, pp. 188–199.

doi: 10.31250/1815-8870-2019-15-40-188-199

URL: http://anthropologie.kunstkamera.ru/files/pdf/040/kalinkina.pdf