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Driving at Democracy in Russia: Protest Activities of St Petersburg Car Drivers' Associations

Abstract This article investigates two strongly opposing modes of organisational activity among Russian car drivers in St Petersburg: Freedom of Choice (Svoboda Vybora) is a contentious grassroots association whereas the city district chapter of the All-Russian Society of Car Drivers (Vserossiiskoe Obshchestvo Avtomobilistov) is part of a nationwide Soviet-era organisation collaborating closely with the authorities. The article describes the history, goals and adversaries, organisation and contact networks, and membership and repertoires of action of the two organisations. In the final section, they are compared in order to spell out the variety and specific features of joint action in Russia.