Contemporary Russian State Nationalism 2012–2016 – Narratives and Reception

• In Event: Contemporary Russian Politics

Abstract

The severe backlash in the relationship between Russia and the west has intensified the quest for research on contemporary self-understanding of the Russian state. Russian actions in Crimea, Donbas and Syria have proven that Russia “as we knew it” exists no more, but exactly how has it changed, remains equivocal. Nationalism has been one of the explanations offered for the change, but as such, it is insufficient – there is hardly any country in the world that wouldn’t use nationalist argument in politics. This research project focuses on the recent developments of the Russian state nationalism.

The key research questions are how nationalism is produced by the state, and how it is received by the people. Thus, the study will first focus on textual manifestations of the state leadership (mainly speeches and political programs from the years 2012-2016) which either explicitly or implicitly draw the lines of ”Russianness”. Various narratives that describe the Russian state, the nation, and the relationship between them are traced. Then, these narratives are compared with the views of the wider public in order to canvass how the official nationalism is received. The primary material consists of a combined set of opinion polls and a collection of interviews, which will be conducted among young professionals in the spring 2016. The research delivers empirically tested in-depth analysis about the change that has taken place in Russia in the recent years, and thus offers a theory-based view on nationalism and the success of its message among the Russian people.

Author

• Veera Laine, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (Finland)