Character Analysis
Arkady Bogdanov is a character. Not a character as in a character in the novel—that's a given—we mean a character in the eccentric-but-still-lovable-and-interesting-person kind of way.
A Russian mechanical engineer with a killer sense of humor, Arkady speaks his mind and doesn't much care whether people get offended by whatever he might say. He leads the team that establishes the space station on Phobos, and although practical in its purpose, the station becomes a shrine to individuality and art under Arkady's guidance.
He falls in love with Nadia, and later in the novel, he leads a group of revolutionaries against the transnationals.
The Lovable Anarchist
Quick refresher: an anarchist is someone who believes the state is undesirable, unnecessary, or even harmful to people. They're generally depicted as people wearing hoodies or train-robber scarves, participating in protests or smashing windows and such. But nothing could be further from the truth with Arkady.
He's an anarchist, sure, but a constructive anarchist. He wants to build things and live his own life—and he doesn't want the government to interfere with him as he does it.
We see this part of Arkady as far back as the Ares when he states, "I don't think we should pay any attention to plans made for us back on Earth!" (2.3.60). He believes they should do what they want and how they want because it's their lives on Mars.
In the same individualist vein, he doesn't believe in any economy based on finances or any type of leader system (2.3.81). And yes, that's irony you taste in those words given that so many people look to the man as a leader of leaderless individuality.
When terraforming becomes an issue, Arkady sides with terraforming because it will make them self-sufficient and not dependent on Earth. And when revolution comes to town, Arkady is right there in the thick of it because it's Mars's chance at freedom.
And that's basically Arkady in a political nutshell. He believes in individuality and making Mars "self-sufficient and independent" (5.9.28). You might not agree with the guy, but you've got to respect the tenacity. And the beard, respect the beard.