Read & Riot: A Pussy Riot Guide to Activism

Tolokonnikova, a founding member of the Russian punk collective Pussy Riot, relates both personal stories and best practices for effecting change in this cogent activist’s guide. In chapters titled as rules for resistance—e.g., “Rule No. 2: Do It Yourself”—Tolokonnikova recalls her participation in public demonstrations, including welding shut the door of a restaurant owned by a pro-Putin journalist and the Pussy Riot performance that led to her arrest. Awaiting sentencing, she learned that a simple smile directed at a prison guard was a liberating act of resistance (“Rule No 3: Take Back the Joy”). Later, while serving her two-year prison sentence for hooliganism, Tolokonnikova organized several hunger strikes to protest the inhumane conditions of Russian prisons (“Rule No. 7: Don’t Give Up Easy. Resist. Organize”), a cause she has taken up since her release through founding a prison reform organization (“Rule No. 9: Create Alternatives”). Gleaning insight from Diogenes, Michel Foucault, and Occupy Wall Street activist Cecily McMillan, among others, Tolokonnikova fills her book with passion and political acumen: “The non linear logic of social movements requires activists to be attentive, sensitive, grateful, and open-minded creatures,” she writes. With its stellar mix of personal experience and hard-won advice, Tolokonnikova’s guide is sure to fuel social movements for years to come. (Oct.)