Russian Girls Construct Freedom and Safety in Pandemic Times

in Girlhood Studies
Author:
Olga Zdravomyslova Executive Director, International Foundations for Socio-economic and Political Studies, Gorbachev Foundation, Russia olgazdrav@gorby.ru

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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2637-5479
and
Elena Onegina PhD Student, NRU Higher School of Economics, Moscow and Center for Youth Studies, Higher School of Economics, Saint Petersburg, Russia elena.onegina@gmail.com

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3084-3549
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2020.130302
Keywords:
agency; liquid fear; safety work; security; pandemic generation; risk
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Abstract

In this article we analyse ten structured interviews with girls aged 15 to 19 from Moscow and St. Petersburg. We look at how the girls are dealing with the fundamentally new and dangerous situation created by the coronavirus pandemic and note that they are looking for a social and psychological space for themselves in which they can create and experience stability and safety. They are more concerned about security than ever before, while being, at the same time, very sensitive to restrictions on their freedom and agency. Girls’ clear desire for privacy, fuelled by the pandemic's increasingly rapid invasion of their digital space, reinforces their urge towards agency and their understanding of freedom as autonomy.

Contributor Notes

Olga Zdravomyslova, (ORCID 0000-0003-2637-5479), a sociologist, is the Executive Director of the International Foundation for Socio-economic and Political Studies (Gorbachev-Foundation) and the Vice President of Raisa Gorbacheva Club, and is on the Editorial Board of Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Her areas of interest include gender, girlhood studies, the socialization of youth, and post-socialist transformation. Email: olgazdrav@gorby.ru

Elena Onegina (ORCID 0000-0002-3084-3549) is a PhD student at the postgraduate school of sociological sciences at NRU Higher School of Economics in Moscow and a member of the Center for Youth Studies NRU Higher School of Economics in Saint-Petersburg. Her areas of interest include youth studies, gender, and girlhood studies. Email: elena.onegina@gmail.com

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Girlhood Studies

An Interdisciplinary Journal

Cover Girlhood Studies
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
16
Keywords:
agency; liquid fear; safety work; security; pandemic generation; risk
Print Publication Date:
01 Dec 2020
Online Publication Date:
01 Dec 2020
Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020

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