Russia’s cultural policy abroad as a projection of the “Russian World”

ABSTRACT

The policy review discusses the recent developments in Russian cultural policy. These developments incorporate Russian culture into its geo-political ambitions. Obviously, the war in Ukraine makes these developments relevant. However, this review piece also seeks to explain the place of cultural policy in the Russian political system and the scope of its geopolitical ambitions.

KEYWORDS:

• Russia
• cultural policy
• humanitarian policy abroad
• traditional values
• the Russian World

Acknowledgements

I want to express my sincere gratitude to Dr Jeremy Valentine for his support and assistance in all my endeavours.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For more on the functioning of contemporary cultural policy in Russia, see: Romashko, T. (2022) ‘To Make a People Out of a Mere Population’: Sovereignty and Governmentality in Hegemonic Russian Cultural Policy. Russian Politics 7(4), pp. 555–580. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30965/24518921-00604031

2 The Kremlin’s website only mentions that the Concept was discussed with the permanent members of Putin’s Security Council in April 2022. Though, the official source does not provide the transcripts of the meeting. See “Meeting with permanent members of the Security Council, Kremlin, April 15, 2022. http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/68196

3 See e.g.: https://cancelrussia.info/ and https://www.itv.com/news/central/2022-02-26/wolverhamptons-grand-theatre-cancels-russian-state-ballet-after-ukraine-attacks

4 See the website: https://www.fondgp.ru/

5 https://rs.gov.ru/

6 https://www.russkiymir.ru/en/

Additional information

Funding

The paper became possible with the financial support of the Kone Foundation (Koneen Säätiö) application 202109235.