How did Vladimir Putin win Russians’ support for his war against Ukraine and why are so many Russians willing to embrace fascism? Dr. Ian Garner seeks to answer this question in his new book “Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia’s Fascist Youth.”
Wartime Russia is drowning in fascist symbols. Zealous patriots attack journalists, opposition activists, and anyone suspected of betraying the motherland. Hordes of online trolls and sleek videos of angry young men urge citizens to join the cause. State television terrifies viewers with false tales of anti-Russian conspiracies and genocidal yearnings. Child soldiers proudly parade across Red Square. This is Russia in the 2020s: a land of performative rage and nationalist untruth, where pretence and broken promises are a way of life, and an apocalyptic mindset is seizing tomorrow’s Russians.
The Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress is pleased to welcome Dr. Garner to discuss his new book, the emergence of this phenomenon, and what it means for the war in Ukraine. He will be in conversation with Joshua C. Huminski, the Director of the Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence & Global Affairs.
If you’d like to attend, please email sophie.williams@thepresidency.org.
Ian Garner's research focuses on Soviet and Russian war propaganda. The author of Stalingrad Lives: Stories of Combat and Survival and Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia’s Fascist Youth, he studied at the Universities of Bristol and Toronto, and at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. He is a regular commentator and writer for platforms including The Times of London, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, New York Times, Guardian, Globe & Mail, BBC, CBC, and ABC. He currently teaches at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.