Аннотация:Topic of the Volume: Socialist Register 2016: The Politics of the Right.
First published in 2015 by The Merlin Press Ltd.
ABSTRACT. ‘Statism’ as a political-ideological priority of the Russian establishment acquires a distinctly conservative character. This conservatism has its own considerable specificity. Firstly, it is not identical with Russian nationalism. Rather, it has a general imperial character, including an emphasis on the unity of peoples and nations within this geopolitical and socio-cultural space. Distinctly Russian values are prioritized solely due to the fact that these are the primary ‘bond’ of the state-territory-people-power. Secondly, this conservatism can be described as ‘right-wing’ only with significant qualifications. In Russia, the conservatives base their rhetoric on paternalistic priorities. As a result (and this is an important paradox) they put forward slogans about social justice, the priority of collectivism, and the like in relation to economic policy. They use not only anti-Western rhetoric, but anti-liberal rhetoric as well, speaking against the so-called ‘democratic’ opposition as well as politicians with more left views. Thirdly, ‘statism’ in Russia is closely connected with the historical tradition of struggle against fascism and the glorification of the heroism of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. Even its name – not the Second World War, but the Great Patriotic War – speaks for itself. As a result, the rhetoric of statism in Russia has a pronounced anti-fascist character.
URL: http://socialistregister.com/index.php/srv/article/view/25595#.VkJwUNLhDMw