The Decolonial Imaginary and Discursive Strategies of Nation-Building in Russia’s Regional Sovereignty Movements

• In Event: Voices of Resilience: Reclaiming Language, Redefining Identity, and Re-imaging the Political Post-Soviet Landscape

Abstract

This paper examines the use of nation-building discourses in the public communications of Russia’s regional sovereignty movements since the invasion of Ukraine. In this period, numerous campaigns and pressure groups advocating for the decolonization, sovereignty or independence of ethnic republics in Russia have gained traction online, often led by activists that have left the country. This paper argues that the movements' use of discursive strategies of nation-building in appealing for support evidences a decolonization effort shaped by the war in Ukraine in ways that both stimulate and limit the decolonial imaginary.

Author

• Leila Wilmers, Cornell U