Thread by @JanMattiD

Amid worrying news about #Navalny, this new piece by Andrei Semenov and me presents a new data set on N's online supporters: who are they and what do they believe? tandfonline.com/eprint/UNB87AZ… 1/x

The basis is a social media survey (conducted together with Lena Sirotkina) in Navalny's VK groups from eight large cities in early 2018. We asked questions from @levada_ru and @ValuesStudies to compare to general population. General disclaimers on survey biases apply. 2/x

(1) They are young, but not kids. 60% are between 18 and 29, less than a fifth is under 18.
(2) When compared to other internet-using urban residents, they are somewhat poorer.
So, overall, clearly not a "rich kids" movement. 3/x

(3) It's true that Navalny mobilized many newcomers into activism. Even when focusing at respondents who did active work for N's presidential campaign, only a minortiy had activist experience. 4/x

(4) When asked about political positions on economics, they are as left as the general population on welfare and and income inequality, but much more in favour of private property. This generally reflects N's call for "socially responsible capitalism". 5/x

(5) On "migrantophobia", people seem like a cross-section of the population. About a third would not like to have "migrant workers" as neighbours. Similar in the population (in a 2017 WVS poll). 6/x

(6) Very different for homosexuality, about which Navalny's supporters are - predictably - much more relaxed than the general pop. 7/x

The data (except socio-dempgraphics) are available on Discuss Data (discuss-data.net), an excellent new platform for the exchange and discussion of research data from the post-Soviet space. Do check it out! 8/x

Finally, I cannot resist the temptation to say again that we (@Ben_H_Noble, @m_lallouet and I) will cover all of this and much more in our book with @HurstPublishers. hurstpublishers.com/book/navalny/ Out in August! /end