A date with the colonel: A Centre “E” officer through the eyes of street protesters

Abstract

The articles dwells on perception of the Counter-Extremism Center of the Department of Home Affairs (Centre “E”) officers - the E-men, or “eshniki” - by the participants of rallies and public gatherings. The article is based on observations of street protests that took place in 2016-2019, interviews with the protesters and participant observation in activist groups. Our field materials demonstrated that the image of an external observer is very important for protesters. Due to the fact that the demands of the protesters are very rarely met, the citizens are driven to look for hidden signs of efficiency of their actions. For example, a helicopter flying over a rally, police incoming or plainclothes observers paying suspicious attention to a protest might be perceived as such a sign. Interpretation of these signs requires some skill from the protesters.The first part of the article dwells on the image of an E-man in street protests, the patterns of recognizing one as such and the pragmatics of the latter with the protesters. The second part covers how an infiltrator into an activist community is exposed. The study demonstrates that while in a rally an infiltrator is usually exposed due to external characteristics, in an activist community one is more likely to be exposed due to one’s behavior. The functions of narratives about the infiltrator also change: while in the first case such narratives serve to prevent oneself and others from an undesired encounter, in the second case they accumulate supplementary functions - to demonstrate one’s skill of interpretation of others’ actions or to exclude an “unpleasant” participant.