IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ids/ijbglo/v34y2023i4p439-461.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Visualising Russian Mafiya gravestones as iconoclastic representations of an idealised, masculine enterprise culture

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Smith

Abstract

Since the 1990s, the Russian Mafiya has developed a unique, masculine enterprise culture with its own customs including conspicuous burial rites. Semiotic appreciation of Russian 'Mafiya Gravestones' is not a new consideration in academia. This netnographic study, using photo-elicitation techniques examines images of gravestones to visualise them as a cultural phenomenon representing an idealised, enterprise culture infused with hyper-masculine values and imagery. From the analysis, common gendered themes emerge which correspond to stereotypical representations of post-Soviet Russian and Western enterprise culture. Russian Enterprise culture then projected an idealised scenario whereby the masculine persona of the 'new entrepreneurs' created an iconography which celebrated 'conspicuous consumption' and 'myopic capitalist imagery, ' eulogised via iconic and gendered representation of 'machismo' and acquired wealth. These universal symbols of entrepreneurial success include the depiction of marque cars, designer suits juxtaposed against religious and cultural symbols. This study develops our understanding of this vibrant enterprise culture.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Smith, 2023. "Visualising Russian Mafiya gravestones as iconoclastic representations of an idealised, masculine enterprise culture," International Journal of Business and Globalisation, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 34(4), pages 439-461.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbglo:v:34:y:2023:i:4:p:439-461
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=133708
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ids:ijbglo:v:34:y:2023:i:4:p:439-461. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sarah Parker (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=245 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.