Ethnicities, Nationalism and the Politics of Identity: Shaping the Nation in Russia

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Notes

¹ For an example of identity crisis analysis, see Gudkov (2004). For an account on the nature of Russian national identity and ‘Russianness’, see Franklin and Widdis (2006). An in-depth analysis of the Russian modernisation problems in a European context and of Russia's European choice is offered by Kholodkovskii (2013).

² Politics of identity are defined here in a broader sense than is common for US sociological studies of identity politics (Heyes 2012). They are seen as synonymous with policies of identity formation and, as such, constituting part of public policy. The group approach considers minorities as principle actors of identity politics, but the involvement of the state cannot be disregarded either. National identity is an object of symbolic, educational, language policies aimed at promoting common political values and at constructing shared political identities. The term ‘soft power’ coined by Joseph Nye points to the mechanisms in use: these are aimed at identity formation (Nye 2004, pp. 5–8). Such activities are especially prominent in transforming regimes seeking consolidated value foundations in a changing institutional environment. Politics of identity differ from state ideology, although one may evolve and transform into the other: state ideology encompasses a common narrative and shared symbolic socialising practices forged under state authority. The monopolisation of the politics of identity by the state leads to regime transformation towards authoritarianism. For a detailed account on politics of identity, see Semenenko (2011a, pp. 162–68).

³ For a definition of the field see Yang (2000).

⁴ For an account of the roots of Ukrainian nationalism, see Wilson (2000). On national identity construction in the Ukraine, see Kuzio (2006). For analysis of the present crisis, see Lapkin and Pantin (2014).

⁵ On Russian federalism, its ethno-territorial dimensions and political implications see Ross (2002).

⁶Izvestiya, 8 August 1990.

⁷ At present ethnic identity has come to prevail over the all-Russian national identity among the ‘titular’ ethnic groups in the national republics. However, affiliation to the all-Russian identity is the overall dominant one, with 95% perceiving themselves as ‘citizens of Russia’, and 72% of these declaring they share such perceptions to ‘a substantial degree’ (Institute of Sociology 2011, pp. 201–2).

⁸ ‘Bednost’ y neravenstvo v sovremennoi Rossii: 10 let spustya', Analiticheskii Doklad (Moscow, Institut sotsiologii RAN), available at: http://www.isras.ru/analytical_report_bednost_i_neravenstva.html, accessed 20 May 2014.

⁹ ‘Nelegal'naya migratsiya v Rossii’, ITAR TASS, 17 October 2014, available at: http://itar-tass.com/spravochnaya-informaciya/691935, accessed 14 December 2014.

¹⁰ ‘Tipovoy conflict’, Vedomosti, 10 July 2013, available at: http://www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/2013/07/10/, accessed 20 May 2014.

¹¹ Kryashens are an ethno-confessional group of Orthodox Christians of Turkic origin belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church. According to 2010 census data, the group numbered approximately 35,000 (while unofficial figures were higher), and the majority lived in Tatarstan. This group is steadily asserting its identity after a period of pressure from the republican authorities in the 1990s aimed at assimilating Kryashens into the Tatar nation.

¹² This outburst of violence happened during what was initially a memorial rally for a young Spartak football club fan killed in a brawl between a group of fans and young people from the North Caucasus. Police actions regarded as favouring the latter provoked further indignation. The rally, accompanied by the shouting of racist slogans, took place on 11 December 2010 in the very centre of Moscow in view of the Kremlin. This was followed by rallies in solidarity with this event in several other Russian towns.

¹³ ‘Mezhnatsional'naya neterpimost v gorodskoi molodeznoi srede (po sledam sobytii na Manezhnoi)’, April 2011 (Moscow, Obshchestvennaya palata RF), available at: http://www.oprf.ru/files/oprosmolodezh.pdf, accessed 25 January 2014, pp. 6–18.

¹⁴ ‘Russkii marsh' bez mitinga’, 11 April 2013, available at: http://www.rosbalt.ru/moscow/2013/11/04/1195807.html, accessed 5 January 2014.

¹⁵ ‘Strategiya gosudarstvennoi natsional'noi politiki do 2025 goda’, 2012, available at: http://news.kremlin.ru/media/events/files/41d4346a9150dd12eda4.pdf, accessed 21 January 2014.

¹⁶ITAR TASS, 17 November 2014, available at: http://itar-tass.com/obschestvo/1577322, accessed 16 December 2014.

¹⁷ ‘Rossiya: natsionalniy vopros’, Nezavisimaya gazeta, 23 January 2012, available at: http://www.ng.ru/politics/2012-01-23/1_national.html, accessed 15 January 2014.

¹⁸ ‘Prezident Rossii’ Vstrecha s avtorami kontsepsii novogo uchebnika istorii 16 yanvarya 2014 goda. Stenograficheskii otchet’, 2014, available at: http://kremlin.ru/news/20071, accessed 30 January 2014.

¹⁹ The anthem is based on a song dating back to 1914 and mentioning the strife against ‘enemies and basurmans’—the latter an old Russian word for peoples of non-Christian faith. See ‘Glava Daghestana Abdulatipov prosit proverit gimn Kubani na extremizm’, Gazeta.ru, 31 October 2013, available at: http://www.gazeta.ru/social/news/2013/10/31/n_3294729.shtml, accessed 15 December 2014.

²⁰ For an account on complex identities see Morozova (2011, pp. 102–6).