Pussy Riot on Campus: Nadya Tolokno Talks with DPU

In the months since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, western media has continued to focus on Ukraine and Russia as the two nations fight the first conventional European war of the 21st century. On campus the specter of the war hangs over our day-to-day lives, as prominent figures remind us constantly of the ongoing conflict. Recently, a Ukrainian Students Association was founded to raise awareness for the suffering people of Ukraine and to object to very mean jokes in a notable campus paper. Even pre-existing political organizations on campus have begun to focus on the conflict and parties involved. Not to be outdone, the Dartmouth Political Union, famous for holding “events” where an old guy talks at a room of bored gov majors, decided to up its game and invite a woman under the age of fifty to speak about her dissent against Vladimir Putin. 

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, from here on referred to by her nickname Nadya Tolokno, is a Russian dissident and member of the punk rock and performance art group Pussy Riot. Her talk took the form of an interview. She spoke to us from a complexly wallpapered room wearing some type of colorful mumu, answering questions from a friendly if rather uninspiring Professor Patyk. Tolokno’s demeanor was pensive, somewhat awkward even, which I found surprising given her chosen profession. Perhaps individual conversations require a different kind of public speaking than grand artistic gestures. Tolokno’s origin story is truly inspiring, even to a godless cynic like me. Tolokno was born in the city of Norilsk, an industrial center whose very name brings up Dickensian images of smog-choked skies and gutters clogged with the waste of manufacturing plants during the Khruschev era. Of course, because it’s a Russian city one must add vodka to the mix of general industrial waste. That smog served as an inspiration to Tolokno, who saw in it concrete evidence of the local regime’s corruption and disregard for the common people. In school, articles that she wrote on feminism and environmentalism were censored by the school newspaper, which was controlled by a bureaucracy that sought to indoctrinate her peers. When she was seventeen she moved to Moscow and continued her activism, seeking to tear down the one man she thought most responsible for the injustices in her country, Vladimir Putin. 

Tolokno’s style of performance is very blunt and purposefully designed to be loud and simple. She first developed this style when she needed to make a newsworthy performance in minutes before Russian police would arrest her. In fact, her most famous performance, at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, was also her most consequential. Unlike most protests in Russia it drew national media attention and wide international applause. The authorities, hostile to their opponent receiving such a wide audience, arrested Tolokno. She was sent to a labor prison. Tolokno spoke rather matter-of-factly about the abuse she suffered in prison, detailing her conflict with the prison’s warden, a sadist who later lost his position due to abuse charges. Russian prisons have always been harsh, and her description suggests that they have not improved much from Stalin’s gulags. Prisoners worked sixteen hour days without weekend breaks, and received no pay and little food. Tolokno was able to send letters from prison and communicate with her compatriots. She began to extend her activism to prisoner’s rights. In this area she saw some success, as the labor system at her prison was abolished after she was released. Rather than weakening her resolve, Tolokno’s prison term only deepened her hatred of Russia’s ruling elite. It also gave her a greater willingness to risk her life in opposition to the state. 

Tolokno emphasized this message of self-sacrifice. She told of friends who had been beaten and even killed by police, and argued that protestors must be willing to put themselves at such risks if they hope to succeed. This determination is all the more impressive as she has a young daughter. Tolokno said that she takes an honest and rather autonomous approach to parenting. Tolokno’s disregard for her own personal safety is admirable, and we should be thankful that her hatred is not directed at us. 

Professor Patyk devoted a sizable portion of her questions to Tolokno’s activism in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Tolokno seemed sad at the invasion, but hopeful that it might weaken Putin’s hold on Russia. Many in Russia do not share her willingness to engage in self-sacrifice and care more about their own material well-being. Tolokno says that these people will begin to turn against Putin as the Russian economy collapses. She points to the oligarchs who have criticized Putin and the generals who have suffered very surprising and unfortunate heart problems as examples of the weakening of the Russian regime and Putin’s desperation. She expressed shame at the Russians who support the war, but does not believe the opinion polls which show a 71% approval rating for the “special military operation.” One could see the conflict within her. On the one hand she loves Russia, but on the other hand she must wish for its defeat as victory would only strengthen those who she believes hold Russia captive.

Yet, perhaps Tolokno is overly optimistic about one aspect of Russia’s future. One member of the audience asked a rather insightful question: whether a post-Putin Russia would be democratic and would share Tolokno’s democratic, feminist, and pro LGBTQ+ values. Now, Tolokno obviously knows a great deal more than this writer whose knowledge of Russia comes from wikipedia pages mindlessly read during Econ 1. However, her belief that Russia after Putin will be a progressive parliamentary democracy, in her words, just like any other in Europe, does seem somewhat far-fetched. Russia has never had a real democracy—the power vacuum left behind in Putin’s absence could just as easily produce another dictatorship. Further, its population seems to support Russia’s anti-gay and anti-feminist laws, with Russian state education and the Russian Orthodox Church reenforcing reactioanry ideas in Russia. Even Putin’s primary political opponents, including Alexei Navalny, are socially very conservative. 

In the absence of Putin Russia may indeed become more western and democratic, but a democracy would necessarily adopt the social attitudes of the majority of its people. Relative to the rest of the Russian population, Tolokno’s attitudes are certainly very progressive. Her dedication to those ideals is strong, but the entrenched values of a population may ultimately prove too much to change for one person, even one as dedicated as Tolokno.