Social Identity And Russian Cultural Politics

"This dissertation investigates the evolution of categories of social identity in the first half of the nineteenth century by exploring the changing ways that three consecutive rivals for the Russian history chair at Moscow University -- M.T. Kachenovskii (1775-1842), M.P. Pogodin (1800-1875) and S.M. Solovʹev (1820-1879) -- defined themselves and each other."--Page iv.

What explains Putin's enduring popularity in Russia? In The Red Mirror, Gulnaz Sharafutdinova uses social identity theory to explain Putin's leadership. The main source of Putin's political influence, she finds, lies in how he articulates the shared collective perspective that unites many Russian citizens. Under his tenure, the Kremlin's media machine has tapped into powerful group emotions of shame and humiliation--derived from the Soviet transition in the 1990s--and has politicized national identity to transform these emotions into pride and patriotism. Culminating with the annexation of Crimea in 2014, this strategy of national identity politics is still the essence of Putin's leadership in Russia. But victimhood-based consolidation is also leading the country down the path of political confrontation and economic stagnation. To enable a cultural, social, and political revival in Russia, Sharafutdinova argues, political elites must instead focus on more constructively conceived ideas about the country's future. Integrating methods from history, political science, and social psychology, The Red Mirror offers the clearest picture yet of how the nation's majoritarian identity politics are playing out.

In Cultural and Political Imaginaries in Putin’s Russia scholars scrutinise developments in official symbolical, cultural and social policies as well as the contradictory trajectories of important cultural, social and intellectual trends in Russian society after the year 2000. Engaging experts on Russia from several academic fields, the book offers case studies on the vicissitudes of cultural policies, political ideologies and imperial visions, on memory politics on the grassroot as well as official levels, and on the links between political and national imaginaries and popular culture in fields as diverse as fashion design and pro-natalist advertising. Contributors are Niklas Bernsand, Lena Jonson, Ekaterina Kalinina, Natalija Majsova, Olga Malinova, Alena Minchenia, Elena Morenkova-Perrier, Elena Rakhimova-Sommers, Andrei Rogatchevski, Tomas Sniegon, Igor Torbakov, Barbara Törnquist-Plewa, and Yuliya Yurchuk.

An examination of post-Soviet society through ethnic, religious, and linguistic criteria, this volume turns what is typically anthropological subject matter into the basis of politics, sociology, and history. Ten chapters cover such diverse subjects as Ukrainian language revival, Tatar language revival, nationalist separatism and assimilation in Russia, religious pluralism in Russia and in Ukraine, mobilization against Chinese immigration, and even the politics of mapmaking. A few of these chapters are principally historical, connecting tsarist and Soviet constructions to today's systems and struggles. The introduction by Dominique Arel sets out the project in terms of new scholarly approaches to identity, and the conclusion by Blair A. Ruble draws out political and social implications that challenge citizens and policy makers. Rebounding Identities is based on a series of workshops held at the Kennan Institute in 2002 and 2003.

Bringing together leading scholars from Russia and outside experts on Russia, this book looks at the difference between the image Russia has of itself and the way it is viewed in the West. It discusses the historical, cultural and political foundations that these images are built upon, and goes on to analyse how contested these images are, and their impact on Russian identity. The book questions whether differing images explain fractiousness in Western-Russian relations in the new century, or whether distinct 'imaginary solitudes' offer a better platform from which to negotiate differences. Providing an innovative comparative study of contemporary images of the country and their impact, the book is a significant contribution to studies of globalisation and international relations.

Globalisation and National Identity in History Textbooks: The Russian Federation, the 16th book in the 24-volume book series Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, discusses trends in dominant discourses of identity politics, and nation-building in school history textbooks in the Russian Federation (RF). The book addresses one of the most profound examples of the re-writing of history following a geo-political change. Various book chapters examine debates pertaining to national identity, patriotism, and the nation-building process. The book discusses the way in which a new sense of patriotism and nationalism is documented in prescribed Russian history textbooks, and in the Russian media debate on history textbooks. It explores the ambivalent and problematic relationship between the state, globalisation and the construction of cultural identity in prescribed school history textbooks. By focusing on ideology, identity politics, and nation-building, the book examines history teachers’ responses to the content of history textbooks and how teachers depict key moments in modern Russian history. This book, an essential sourcebook of ideas for researchers, practitioners and policymakers in the fields of globalisation and history education, provides timely information on history teachers’ attitudes towards historical knowledge and historical understanding in prescribed Russian history textbooks.

Master's Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject Politics - Region: Russia, grade: A-, Central European University Budapest, language: English, abstract: The problem of political identity is one of the most topical issues in constructivist IR theory. The understanding of identity construction as well as the adequate interpretation of its foreign policy implications can help explain the meanings behind the actions of major international actors. The work deals with the problem of political identity in contemporary Russia, by engaging with and extending the temporal scope of the constructivist analysis, conducted by Ted Hopf in his book Social Construction of International Politics. It suggests that the great projects politics of contemporary Russia, which is linked to the specificity of its political identity and seems to be similar to that of the late-Soviet period, can, in fact, be better understood, if another work on Russian identity (The Ethics of Postcommunism: History and Social Praxis in Russia by Sergei Prozorov) is also taken into account. Hopf’s analysis, while providing a valuable theoretical framework and linking the state’s identity to the great power status, does not trace the evolution of the latter status and confines itself to two years of Russia’s development, namely, 1955 and 1999. Prozorov’s book, while thoroughly analyzing the identity of contemporary Russian state, is limited within the domestic realm and fails to address the idea of great power, which Hopf believes to be an integral part of Russian political discourse and which is possible to interpret, only if the analysis extends beyond national borders. The research incorporates Prozorov’s theoretical contribution into the framework of Hopf, thus merging the mentioned approaches and making them applicable to the contemporary Russian condition, both domestically and within IR.

A concluding chapter discusses the policy implications of aspirational constructivism for Russia and other nations and a methodological appendix lays out a framework for testing the theory.

Drawing on a wide array of Russian sources, Iver Neumann outlines the Russian debate about Europea it unfolded over the last 200 years.

Chiara Pierobon analyzes the relationship existing between political youth organizations, music and national identity in contemporary Russia. In particular she focuses the most important political youth organizations present in the city of St. Petersburg and describes their contribution to the conceptualization of post-Soviet national identity(ies), as captured through an analysis of their music. The book distinguishes itself for its conceptualization of music and provides new empirical insights into the use of this medium as a research tool and as an analytic device for the study and comparison of political youth organizations. It also suggests the adoption of a new approach looking at the national identity issue as an “operational category offering a [new] relevant framework for the study of contemporary Russia” (Laruelle 2010).