Alexander Nikolaevich Tarasov (; born March 8, 1958) is a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and Russian left-wing sociologist,

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, culturologist, publicist, writer, and philosopher. Up until the beginning of the 21st century he referred to himself as a

Post-Marxist Post-Marxism is a perspective in Critical theory, critical social theory which radically reinterprets Marxism, countering its association with economism, historical determinism, Antihumanism, anti-humanism, and class reductionism, whilst remai ...

alongside István Mészáros and a number of Yugoslav Marxist philosophers who belonged to Praxis School and emigrated to London. Since in the 21st century the term Post-Marxism has been appropriated by

Ernesto Laclau Ernesto Laclau (; 6 October 1935 – 13 April 2014) was an Argentine political theorist and philosopher. He is often described as an 'inventor' of post-Marxist political theory. He is well known for his collaborations with his long-term partner, ...

Chantal Mouffe Chantal Mouffe (; born 17 June 1943) is a Belgian political theorist, formerly teaching at University of Westminster. She is best known for her and Ernesto Laclau's contribution to the development of the so-called Essex School of discourse ana ...

and their followers, Alexander Tarasov (together with the above-mentioned István Mészáros and Yugoslav philosophers) stopped referring to himself as a Post-Marxist.

Early political activity and arrest

In December 1972 – January 1973 together with Vasily Minorsky, Tarasov has founded a clandestine radical left group called the "Party of New Communists" (PNC) (Russian: Партия новых коммунистов (ПНК)), and became the group's informal leader in the summer of 1973. In 1974 PNC merged with another clandestine radical left group called " Left School" (Russian: Левая школа) to form the " Neo-Communist Party of the Soviet Union" (NCPSU) (Russian: Неокоммунистическая партия Советского Союза (НКПСС)). Tarasov has become one of the NCPSU leaders and theorists, writing the party program, The Principles of Neo-communism (Russian: Принципы неокоммунизма) in 1974. The

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

arrested him in 1975. Upon preliminary imprisonment and a yearlong confinement in a special psychiatric hospital he was released because the NCPSU case was never brought to trial. In the psychiatric hospital Tarasov was subjected to cruel treatment and (de facto) to torture (beatings, ETC –

electroconvulsive therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatry, psychiatric treatment that causes a generalized seizure by passing electrical current through the brain. ECT is often used as an intervention for mental disorders when other treatments are inadequ ...

, induced

hypoglycemia Hypoglycemia (American English), also spelled hypoglycaemia or hypoglycæmia (British English), sometimes called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's tria ...

, injection of large doses of neuroleptics) all resulting in severe somatic disorders, which A.Tarasov has been suffering from since his release, leaving him virtually disabled ( hypertonia,

Ankylosing Spondylitis Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a type of arthritis from the disease spectrum of axial spondyloarthritis. It is characterized by long-term inflammation of the joints of the spine, typically where the spine joins the pelvis. With AS, eye and bow ...

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

and

pancreas The pancreas (plural pancreases, or pancreata) is an Organ (anatomy), organ of the Digestion, digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdominal cavity, abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a ...

diseases). After his release, Tarasov participated in restoration of NCPSU, which he had led until its self-dissolution in January 1985. In 1988, two State Psychiatric Commissions examined Tarasov and found him completely psychologically healthy. (''Also read'':

Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union There was systematic political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union, based on the interpretation of political opposition or dissent as a psychiatric problem. It was called "psychopathological mechanisms" of dissent. During the leader ...

)

Education and professional activities

Tarasov held many different jobs: he worked as a draughtsman; laboratory assistant in a design institute; graveyard warden at Vagankovo Cemetery (Moscow); machinist;

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

technician; librarian; editor; feldsher; gas boiler operator; bookkeeper at the Central Warehouse of Mikoyan Meat Processing Plant Corp.;

light board operator The light board operator (commonly referred to as the "Light Op" or "Board Op"), is the Electrician (theatre), electrician who operates and may even program the light board. They are considered part of the "Electrics" Department or LX Department. A ...

at Moscow Hermitage Theatre (located in Moscow Hermitage Garden); research associate at the Centre for Scientific Analysis (

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

); university teacher; consultant for the Ministry of Education and Science; political columnist; expert at Information Research Centre "Panorama" and Moscow Human Rights Committee; etc. He got a degree in economics from All-Russian State Distance Learning Institute of Finance and Economics and a degree in history (started at the Moscow State Pedagogical University and finished at Lomonosov Moscow State University). When "

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

" started, he soon firmly positioned himself as a professional sociologist and

Publishing and literary activity

In 1984 Tarasov started publishing his works (under a pseudonym) in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(" samizdat") and in foreign press. In 1988, his articles started appearing (under pseudonyms) in independent press and from 1990 he has been publishing his works in independent and official press under his own name. In 1988 he founded the "Independent Archive" (from 1990: "Independent Archive – Independent Sociological Service") and in 1991 he became an associate at the Centre for New Sociology and the Study of Applied Politics "Phoenix" (Russian: Центр новой социологии и изучения практической политики "Феникс"). In 2004, he became a co-director of "Phoenix" and, in February 2009, its director. In the first half of 1993 Tarasov was one of the three editors of a monthly magazine called ''The House of the Unions'', published by the same team as ''Solidarnost'' (Russian: ''Солидарность'' (Solidarity), the newspaper founded by the Moscow Federation of Trade Unions (MFP) (currently the newspaper of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia). The magazine had a circulation of 30,000. In his address to the readers of the first issue A.Tarasov has noted that ''The House of the Unions'' makes it its mission to "update Socialist thought" and "create a theory that matches current reality." After just five issues the magazine was closed down by Andrey Isaev, Editor in Chief of "Solidarnost", for non-conforming to the political line of MFP, i.e. for "excessive" radicalism. In the second half of 1993 Tarasov was a member of the editorial board of the newspaper ''The Working Class Action''; in 1993–1994 – a member of the editorial board of a

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

magazine ''Vugluskr'' (Russian: ''Вуглускр''); in the mid-1990s – political adviser for a radical student union "Students' Advocacy". Tarasov has penned more than 1100 publications in sociology (mainly on youth studies, education issues and

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of Conflict (process), conflict and Revenge, retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively co ...

); politology (current politics,

political radicalism Radical politics denotes the intent to transform or replace the principles of a society or political system, often through social change, structural change, revolution or radical reform. The process of adopting radical views is termed radica ...

in Russia and abroad, mass

social movements A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of ...

); history (history and theory of revolutionary movement and

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...

); culturology (popular culture issues, intercultural and inter-civilization contradictions); economics( comparative research). He is also a literary and movie critic (modern literature and cinema, popular culture and politics, history and theory of the

cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...

of the 1960s and 1970s). He has been the first to study and describe Nazi-skinhead

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...

in Russia. A.Tarasov is the author of the first profound research on the influence of far-right ideas and organizations on the subculture of football fans in Russia (November 2009 – January 2010). In 2002 he was one of the founders, compilers and a scientific editor of a book series ''Zero Hour: Contemporary World Anti-Bourgeois Thought'' (Russian: ''"Час "Ч". Современная мировая антибуржуазная мысль"'' – "Gilea" Publishing House). He followed this with two additional book series: ''Class Struggle'' (German: ''Klassenkampf''; co-edited with Boris Yuliyevich Kagarlitsky – "Ultra.Culture" Publishing House) in 2005, and ''The Rose of the Revolution'' (Russian: ''"роЗА РЕВОлюций"'') in 2006 ("Cultural Revolution" Publishing House). These series include modern left-wing socio-political literature (mainly foreign). In addition to contributing to compiling and editing of these series, Tarasov takes on the role of a science editor and commentator on the works of famous left-wing thinkers:

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

Alain Badiou Alain Badiou (; ; born 17 January 1937) is a French philosopher, formerly chair of Philosophy at the École normale supérieure (ENS) and founder of the faculty of Philosophy of the Université de Paris VIII with Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault ...

Cornelius Castoriadis Cornelius Castoriadis (; 11 March 1922 – 26 December 1997) was a Greeks in France, Greek-FrenchMemos 2014, p. 18: "he was ... granted full French citizenship in 1970." philosopher, sociologist, social critic, economist, psychoanalyst, au ...

to name a few.

As a target of violence in post-Soviet Russia

On November 4, 1995, Tarasov was the victim of an unprovoked assault near his house: after calling him by name, unknown attackers beat him so severely that he lost consciousness (although he tried to defend himself). The attackers escaped with his

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

, but did not take a large sum of money and valuables. Police opened a criminal investigation into the assault, but the attackers have never been found. In 2008,

neo-Nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), to att ...

included A. Tarasov on the list of their enemies who must be physically exterminated. The list was published on radical right-wing sites. In 2011, the Russian pro-

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

group " Nashi" named Tarasov among "168 most loathsome enemies" of the group's leader Vasily Yakemenko and of

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

's regime.

Political differences with contemporary dissenters

Tarasov is known among Russian anarchists as a consistent critic, primarily of the practice of

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

as fruitless and unpromising, and, to some extent, of its theory as outdated and unscientific. Tarasov's criticism has caused open animosity towards him among anarchists. Tarasov's reaction to 2011–2012 Russian protests was negative. He criticized the protests from the left, considering them to be the movement of petit bourgeoisie and "

consumers A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. Th ...

' rebellion" alien to the goals and objectives of left-wing forces in Russia and irrelevant to the revolutionary struggle against capitalism. Between 2002 and 2012 Tarasov actively participated (behind the scene) in publication of the ''Scepsis'' journal (Russian: ''Скепсис''), also contributing to its online version (from May 2003). He was responsible for some of the publications on the journal's website, collaborated with authors and translators as an editor and a curator. He had a noticeable influence on the political and theoretical stance of the journal, which is evident in the journal's and the website's mission statement, documenting some of Tarasov's theoretical ideas, such as: defining the bureaucrat-bourgeoisie as the ruling class of modern Russia; characterization of Russia as a society of degrading peripheral capitalism; distinguishing between the concepts of "intellectuals" and "

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

"; recognition of the rudimentary level of the left movement in Russia, etc. In addition, the mission statement of ''Scepsis'' contains references to five of Tarasov's writings. It is also known that A. Tarasov was one of the authors of the ''Scepsis's''

manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

entitled "Do Not Fall into the Same Trap!"(Russian
«Не наступать на грабли!»
("Do Not Fall into the Same Trap!"). and dedicated to the "Bolotnaya" protests of 2011. His input into the manifesto was the idea of the necessity to organise grassroots "clusters of resistance... at work, at school, and in the neighbourhoods". In 2012 A. N. Tarasov left the ''Scepsis'' due to ideological and political differences with the majority of its editorial board members, most of whom were the students and followers of Yuri Semenov. Tarasov's departure was preceded by his public

polemic Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...

s with Semenov.

Recognition and awards

Tarasov is an accomplished prose and poetry writer (since 1992). He is also a translator from English and Spanish (since 1997). Tarasov's works have been published, apart from Russia, in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Spain, Greece, Finland, Hungary, Czech Republic,

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, India, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Argentina, Cuba, Panama, South Africa, Morocco, Réunion, New Zealand, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, as well as in unrecognized

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

and

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...

. He is a laureate of the prizes of several literary magazines: "Druzhba Narodov" (''Fraternity of Peoples'', Russian: ''«Дружба Народов»'' (2000), " Yunost" (''Youth'', Russian: ''«Юность»'' (2001) and "Oktyabr'" (''October'', Russian: ''«Октябрь»'' (2011). Since 2014 Tarasov's profile has been included in annual editions of Marquis Who's Who in the World.

Books

* "Провокация. Версия событий 3–4 октября 1993 г. в Москве". – М.: Центр новой социологии и изучения практической политики "Феникс", 1993. ("The Provocation. A Version of Events in Moscow on October 3–4, 1993". – Moscow: Center for New Sociology and Research in Applied Politics "Phoenix", 1993) * "Правда о Югославии". — Пермь: ОПОР, 1993. ("The Truth About Yugoslavia". — Perm': OPOR, 1993 (co-author) * "Провокация. Версия событий 3–4 октября 1993 г. в Москве. — Постскриптум из 1994–го". — М.: Центр новой социологии и изучения практической политики "Феникс", 1994. ("The Provocation. A Version of Events in Moscow on October 3–4, 1993. — Post scriptum from 1994". — Moscow: Center for New Sociology and Research in Applied Politics "Phoenix", 1994) * "Политический экстремизм в России". — М.: Информационно-экспертная группа "Панорама", 1996. ("Political Extremism in Russia". — Moscow: Information-expert group "Panorama", 1996 (co-author) * "Политический экстремизм в России". — М.: Институт экспериментальной социологии, 1996. ("Political Extremism in Russia". — Moscow: Institute of Experimental Sociology, 1996 (co-author). * "Левые в России: от умеренных до экстремистов". — М.: Институт экспериментальной социологии, 1997. ("The Left Wing in Russia: From Moderate to Extremists". — Moscow: Institute of Experimental Sociology, 1997 (co-author). * "Очень своевременная повесть. Феминистка как стриптизёрша: культурологический анализ". — М.: Издательство Академии Искусства и Науки XXI века "Норма", 1999. ("A Very Timely Novel. A Feminist as a Stripper: Culturological Analysis". — Moscow: "Norma" Publishing House (the Academy of 21st Century Art and Science), 1999). * "Революция не всерьёз. Штудии по теории и истории квазиреволюционных движений". — Екатеринбург: "Ультра.Культура", 2005. ("Not A Serious Revolution. Study of the Theory and History of Quasi-Revolutionary Movements". — Yekaterinburg: "Ultra.Culture" Publishing House, 2005). * "Страна Икс". — М.: АСТ; Адаптек, 2006. ("Country X". — Moscow: AST; Adaptek, 2006. ; 2nd edition: 2007, ) * "Le rouge et le noir. Extrême droite et nationalisme en Russie". ("The Red and the Black: The Extreme Right and Nationalism in Russia") — Paris: CNRS Éditions, 2007 (co-author). . * "XX əsr radikalı üçün Erix Fromm irsi. — Fromm E. Marksın insan konsepsiyası". — Bakı: Solfront, 2012. (Fromm E. "Marx's Concept of Man". Tarasov A. "The Legacy of Erich Fromm for a Radical of the End of XX – Beginning of XXI Century". — Baku: Solfront, 2012). .

References

External links

"Тарасовщина" (A.Tarasov's Personal Website)

* ttp://scepsis.ru/authors/id_15.html Скепсис/Александр Тарасов (A.Tarasov's page on Scepsis website)
К Новой Идеологии – К Новой Революции (Website of A.Tarasov, his Friends and Allies)

* ttp://magazines.russ.ru/authors/t/tarasov/ А. Тарасов в «Журнальном зале РЖ» (A.Tarasov's publications in "The Journal Room") {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarasov, Alexander Living people 1958 births Marxist theorists Soviet Marxist historians 20th-century Russian historians Labor historians Russian atheists Russian sociologists Russian politicians Russian political scientists Russian political writers Russian dissidents Russian activists Russian socialists Russian communists Soviet dissidents Russian Marxist historians 20th-century Russian writers 20th-century Russian translators Translators from English Translators from Spanish 21st-century Russian historians