Presentations by Streams

Discourses on Russia as a civilization-state became increasingly visible since 2012. Sitting alongside complementary notions of the “Russian World” and “Holy Russia”, civilizationalism simultaneously identifies Russia’s main enemies (the political West, colour revolution, globalised cultural imports,) and offers a version of the Russian nation that incorporates great power nationalism, Orthodoxy, multiculturalism and multipolarity. Previous research has suggested that, while civilizationalism is a unifying idea for certain elite groups in Russia, quantitative analysis reveals it is not dominant in Kremlin discourse. Polling data also suggest civilizational discourse is not of major relevance to the majority of Russians. This panel addresses a range of questions on civilizationalism in contemporary Russia, such as how Kremlin civilizational discourse is adapted for domestic and international audiences and where it resonates in certain constituencies. Also considered is the extent to which Russian civilizational discourse is in a direct relationship with Western notions of civilization in the singular and the ongoing war in Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox Church is studied as a key supplier of civilizational ideology, with a focus on the degree to which this is compatible with the Kremlin’s largely secular sources of legitimacy. Taken together, the paper presentations will also contribute to debates on the nature of Russian neo-imperialism and the degree to which this is fundamentally original or more a retrograde repetition of previous historical trends.