“Consentful contention” in a corporate state: human rights activists and public monitoring commissions in Russia

This article explores contentious politics within institutions that are neither state bodies nor “civil society” organisations in contemporary Russia. It shows that human rights activists join Public Monitoring Commissions, created by the state to oversee conditions in prisons, to prevent these bodies from “white-washing” the Federal Penitentiary Service and in some cases have effected small but noteworthy improvements inside the prisons under their jurisdiction. Their contentious claims are grounded in the government’s own legislation and made from a platform that is formally endorsed by the state and are therefore more difficult for the authorities to ignore.