The Symbol of the Motherland in the Legitimation and Delegitimation of Power in Contemporary Russia

Bibliographic Data

ID11048412
AuthorsOleg Riabov (0000-0002-5944-9668, St Petersburg University, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume48
Issue4
Pages752-767
Publication date2020-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNationalities Papers (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-5992 • E-ISSN: 1465-3923
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/nps.2019.14
OpenAlexW2996643320
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited39

The article dwells upon the use of the symbol of the “Motherland” in the legitimation and delegitimation of power. The Motherland symbolizes the matters that are essential for legitimacy-seeking: the unity of Russia, its territory and sacredness of its borders, the most important events of its history, the “authentic Russianness,” and multi-ethnic peace in the country. The author argues that the Motherland serves as an important factor of the legitimation of power in contemporary Russia, which allows the authorities to have high popularity both in domestic and foreign policies. This symbol is also actively exploited by the opposition; one mode of the delegitimation of power through using the symbol of Motherland (the “populist” mode) implies the symbolic struggle for possessing this symbol, or for the right to speak on behalf of the Motherland, while another one (the “liberal” mode) implies the desacralization of the “Motherland” and deconstruction of the practices of employing the symbol by the authorities

Deconstruction (building · Legitimacy · Legitimation · Linguistics · Mode (computer interface · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Symbol (formal · Computer Science · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · Law · Philosophy · Security, Politics, and Digital Transformation · Sociopolitical Dynamics in Russia