‘AUE is an information bubble’: Anthropologist Dmitry Gromov on how ‘moral panic’ fueled widespread fears about a ‘criminal network’ influencing Russian youth

In 2020, the Russian Supreme Court declared AUE an illegal extremist organization and banned its activities. In its ruling, the court referred to AUE as an "international social movement." But by all appearances, this purported extremist group lacks organizational principles, a hierarchical structure, and other characteristics that typically define a social movement. Indeed, AUE -- short for "Arestansky Uklad Edin," which can be roughly translated as "Prisoner's Lifestyle is Unified" -- is more often described as an informal network. Or as a criminal subculture, whose mostly teenage followers romanticize prison culture and criminal aesthetics. To find out more about AUE and its actual influence in Russia, Meduza spoke to anthropologist Dmitry Gromov about the research behind his forthcoming book, titled "AUE: Criminalization of Youth and Moral Panic." Original Article: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2021/12/01/aue-is-an-information-bubble