This new study by Judith Pallot and Elena Katz examines the effects of the Russian Federation's penal system on female relatives of male prisoners. The source material consists of qualitative interviews conducted in various cities in the Russian Federation, as well as postings in online forums. The authors relate this material to two historical stereotypes: the Decembrist wives, who followed their husbands into exile for participating in the 1825 Decembrist Uprising, and the nurturing and self-sacrificing maternal figure embodied by matreshka nesting dolls. The authors argue that the dekabristka and matreshka figures are “deeply embedded in Russian culture” and that “their strong association with prison … is indicative of the prominent role that penality has played in shaping gender identities in Russia” (xi). Often invoked to give meaning to suffering and to justify standing by a man with a prison sentence, the dekabristka and matreshka ideals comprise a background against which the experiences of female relatives of prisoners are imagined, expressed, and understood.
The opening chapter traces the trope of the Decembrist wife in Russian culture, from the nineteenth century through the Stalinist era to the present day. The authors show how the image of the dekabristka has been desacralized during the post-Communist period. Yet, numerous literary depictions and more recently television series attest to its enduring appeal. The authors attribute this to two factors: 1) the longevity of traditional gender stereotypes, according to which women are believed to be fulfilled by self-sacrifice and devotion to men, and 2) the comparatively high level of incarceration in Russia, “where one in five families have, or have had, a family member in jail” (17).
The subsequent chapters focus on different types of relationships with prisoners. Wives and girlfriends are divided into three subgroups: the wives/partners of ordinary prisoners; “social media wives” (zaochnitsi), whose relationships began while the man was in jail; and wives/partners of high-ranking men within the “thieves-in-law” prison subculture. Further chapters consider the experiences of mothers, daughters, and other female relatives (sisters and mothers-in-law). The final chapter considers the plight of political prisoners’ families, whom the authors view as “the true heirs to the dekabristki” (174), exemplified here by the highly-publicized cases of Igor Sutyagin and Aleksei Kozlov.
The interviews are recounted in the words of the authors, with the inclusion of brief, direct quotes. Topics include the circumstances of arrest; the history of the relationship with the prisoner and the motivations and means for maintaining it; and the difficulties experienced by the female relative as a consequence of her “secondary prisonisation” (xix). As the interviews show, women who seek to maintain relationships with prisoners face considerable economic and social obstacles, often exacerbated by the long-held practice in Russia of sending prisoners to remote regions. The study focuses on the respondents’ practical and discursive strategies for negotiating these challenges, and how these influence their identity construction. Throughout, the authors provide relevant historical and sociological backgrounds on the prison subculture, political imprisonment, and the institutional structure of the Russian prison system. The authors also relate their findings to sociological research on western prisons.
Despite differences among the various subgroups examined here, a common picture emerges of inadequate societal support for prisoners’ families, who suffer economically, socially, and psychologically as a result of the incarceration of a relative. Many respondents also express a distrust of the criminal justice system and describe the humiliating treatment and harassment they have been subjected to by prison authorities and police. In the words of the human rights activist Olga Romanova, interviewed for this study: “Prison is a leveler” (202).
Occasional references to the women interviewed in the study as “twenty-first-century dekabristki” (16) who “perform the dekabristka role” (57) have the effect of blurring the distinction between stereotypical representations and the experiences of real women. While cultural representations may reflect and influence views of imprisonment, the responses of individual women often contradict traditional gender roles. As the authors observe in the epilogue, these women “have nuanced and complex relationships with the person in jail, other family members, society at large, and the institution of the prison” (201). The text also suffers from numerous stylistic and typographical errors, which detract from its valuable content. These points notwithstanding, this interesting study offers a multifaceted picture of the far-reaching consequences of the Russian Federation's inhumane prison system.
