Does the Selective Use of International Radical Right Rhetoric by the Russian Regime Provoke or Pacify the Opposition?

• In Event: War and Opposition in Russia’s Media Narratives

Abstract

In its state-run media, the Russian regime has adopted elements of Western European and North American (WENA) radical right rhetoric — but this adoption has been selective. Anti-Black, Islamophobic, and anti-immigrant rhetoric for WENA contexts had been rising together with anti-LGBT and other socially conservative rhetoric. However, this rise is discrepant with a notable absence of domestic anti-immigrant or traditional ethnic nationalist rhetoric associated with the radical right. This situation can be summarised as "ethnonationalism for them, multinationality for us". Does this discrepant adoption galvanise or pacify the diverse ideological strands of the Russian opposition? How do these strands envision the regime’s rhetorical stance on radical right issues? This paper first presents evidence of selective adoption using data from automated transcripts of propaganda talk shows such as “60 Minutes” covering the period from 2017 to 2022. It then compares official rhetoric to opposition rhetoric by analysing automated transcripts of popular opposition YouTube programs and Telegram channels. Finally, it uses these opposition media data to gauge the assessment of the regime’s rhetorical stance by several ideological clusters of the opposition, ranging from social liberals and democratic socialists to pro-empire right and anti-immigrant right.

Author

• Andrey Davydov, McGill U (Canada)