Violent Entrepreneurs : The Use of Force in the Making of Russian Capitalism

220 Pages·2016·6.749 MB·English

by  Vadim Volkov

Violent Entrepreneurs

Violent
Entrepreneurs
The Use of Force in the
Making of Russian Capitalism
VADIM VOLKOV
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2002 by Cornell Universiry
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this
book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without
permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address
Cornell Universiry Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca,
New York 14850.
First published 2002 by Cornell Universiry Press
First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2002
Printed in the United States of America
Library ofCongms Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Volkov, Vadim, 1965-
Violent entrepreneurs: the use of force in the making of Russian
capitalism / Vadim Volkov.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8014-4016-8 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN-IO: 0-8014-4016-5 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8014-8778-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-IO: 0-8014-8778-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
I. Organized crime-Russia (Federation) 2. Capitalism-Russia
(Federation) 3. Law enforcement-Russia (Federation) 4. Russia
(Federation)-Social conditions-I9 9 1- 5. Russia (Federation)-Politics
and government-l 991- I. Tide.
HV6453.R8 V65 2002
364.1 '06'0947-<1c21
2002002763
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To my parents,
Tamara and Victor

Contents
Preface ix
Chapter I. Veblen's Warning
Chapter 2. Violent Entrepreneurship 27
Chapter 3. The Violence-Managing Agency 64
Chapter 4. Bandits and Capitalists 97
Chapter 5. The Privatization of the Power Ministries 126
Chapter 6. The Politics of State Formation 155
Key to Interviews 193
Glossary 195
Index 197

Preface
T
his book was triggered by an observation. In 1995, on my way to
work, I used to walk past a mansion in central Petersburg that
housed the headquarters of the Northwestern Regional Anti-Organized
Crime Directorate (RUBOP). Each time I would observe the same scene:
people of formidable physical proportions, with very short haircuts, wearing
leather jackets or long dark overcoats, walked out of the RUBOP headquar­
ters, got into black cars with tinted windows, and departed in various direc­
tions. Others parked nearby and entered the mansion. What struck me each
time was that these people looked, moved, and gesticulated very much like
those whom they were supposed to be fighting-members of organized
criminal groups, the so-called bandits.
Regional anti-organized crime directorates were set up throughout Russia
in 1992 as an elite police force with extraordinary powers. At that time, the
urban social landscape and culture were undergoing drastic changes. A new
jargon corrupted everyday language, radio stations played popular songs
filled with prison jargon, booksellers were switching to cheap popular fiction
about the tough and fearless. It seemed that through the spoken word, ges­
tures, and images, some new powerful subculture was beginning to dictate
its values, perceptions, and attitudes. This subculture was not just a criminal
underworld. The new landscape did not have a single origin; it was made up
of many different cultural inputs fused together inasmuch as they all exalted
violence and commerce.
Through further observation I discovered a whole set of previously un-