Scapegoating Strategies in Autocracies: The Cases of LGBTQ People and Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia

• In Event: Text-as-Data Approaches to Studying Exclusion & Inclusion Strategies in Authoritarian Regimes

Abstract

Autocratic regimes often employ scapegoating strategies to consolidate power, deflect social grievances, and reinforce ideological narratives. This paper examines how the Russian state has utilized such strategies against two distinct groups—LGBTQ people and Jehovah’s Witnesses—through legal persecution. By analyzing judicial records from a selection of cases, this study identifies both commonalities and differences in the mechanisms of repression.

This study dissects the institutional and discursive mechanisms behind these persecutions, shedding light on the broader function of scapegoating in autocratic governance. By comparing these two cases, the paper contributes to a deeper understanding of authoritarian legalism and the role of state-orchestrated marginalization in contemporary Russia. The analysis highlights how Russian authorities have framed these groups as existential threats to national security, morality, and traditional values. Judicial rhetoric, procedural patterns, and sentencing disparities reveal how legal instruments are weaponized to enforce ideological conformity.

Author

• Sergey Katsuba, U College Dublin (Ireland)