Vasileva’s dissertation introduces sticker art as a vibrant, global alternative youth culture often overlooked in academia. Stickers are small adhesive papers featuring logos, slogans, pictures or nicknames that are created, placed on urban surfaces and traded. While part of the broader graffiti and street art world, sticker art is considered a less deviant form of urban illicit art due to its smaller size and removability.
“Sticker art is not unique to Russia or St. Petersburg,” Vasileva says. “My primary interest in conducting this research was understanding how this culture is adapted to a specific socio-political context. What does sticker art do for young people in St. Petersburg and what meanings does it help to generate within and beyond the community? In this manner, for me, sticker art was also an entry point for contemplating Russian society from 2016 to 2021, the years during which the data was collected.”
Vasileva’s dissertation significantly contributes to sociological youth research and critically examines key concepts within a non-democratic society. It provides a cultural, economic and political perspective on sticker artists’ participation. Vasileva seeks to deconstruct the concept of participation, which is utilised across various disciplines and encompasses multiple meanings.
By participation scholars can refer to community engagement and belonging, sustaining institutions and maintaining the continuity of a (democratic) regime. Alternatively, it can signify societal change and transformation. In democratic societies, these two meanings can coexist peacefully, as democratic structures inherently allow for a degree of transformation and change. However, in a non-democratic context, participation as change and participation as continuity can be contradictory.
Theoretical approach for deconstructing societal participation as an assemblage of actions, discourses, affects and institutions
In Europe, particularly in Finland, youth participation is a fundamental aspect of youth policy and governance. It is considered a key component of being a “good citizen” and becomes an obligation for young people. Conversely, in Russia, the authorities have a different perception of what constitutes a “good citizen,” leading to different standards for youth participation.
Vasileva proposes a definition of participation that considers power relations in specific contexts and separates normative expectations from young people’s practices and values. Empirically, her dissertation shows that sticker artists face similar economic pressures as Western youth due to the influence of neoliberalism. Culturally, sticker artists ground their practices within local ethical and aesthetic traditions while engaging in a complex relationship with the imagined West. Politically, sticker art in St. Petersburg cannot be fully explained through the traditional concept of subcultural resistance, as young people do not view resistance as a liberating practice. To gain more agency, subcultural youth rather prefer to distance themselves from the regime.
Currently, Vasileva continues to study the participation of young people in the project “TikTok (Anti)Democracies: Self-making, Skepticism, and Political Expression among Young People (TikTokCracy)”, supported by Kone Foundation.
Public defence on Friday 28 March
The doctoral dissertation of M.Soc.Sc. Nadezhda Vasileva in the field of youth research titled Young People Participating in Society: Cultural, Political and Economic Perspectives on Youth Culture Sticker Art in St. Petersburg will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Tampere University at 12:00 on Friday 28 March 2025. The venue is Auditorium B1096 in the Pinni B building (address: Kanslerinrinne 1) on the city centre campus. The Opponent will be Professor Shane Blackman (Canterbury Christ Church University). The Custos will be Professor Päivi Honkatukia (Tampere University).