The Others within: Drawing boundaries inside the Russian Federation
Toivonen, Mirka (2014)
Toivonen, Mirka
2014
Kansainvälinen politiikka - International Relations
Johtamiskorkeakoulu - School of Management
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2014-08-26
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:uta-201409022101
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:uta-201409022101
Tiivistelmä
This study turns around the conventional idea of boundaries as outer limits by focusing on the internal boundaries that define who is considered a full member and a legitimate owner of the state. The theme of internal boundaries of Russia is approached in this study through two political projects: an initiative of a codex of behavior for the residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the Strategy of National Politics. The purpose of the study is to construct and compare boundary narratives emerging from these discussions in order to sketch the directions towards which the use of internal boundaries for the purposes of nation building in Russia may be developing, and what it may mean to the relations between 'us' and 'the Others within'.
My research problem can be formulated as follows: What kind of competing narratives about the internal boundaries within the Russian Federation can be found in the boundary discourse emerging around the two chosen political projects? The resulting narratives are further analyzed to find answers to the following sub-questions: Are there elements of exclusionary nation building visible in the narratives? Do the results support the claim that Russian nation building is purposefully ambiguous?
The study approaches boundaries and nations through a social constructivist lens. Boundaries are hence studied here as socially constructed lines of distinction dividing people into 'us' and 'the Others'. My theoretical framework combines border studies and studies of nation building, making use of theories of exclusionary nation building and the concept of 'the Other'. Articles from eight Russian media publications, the Strategy of National Politics, three speeches and one article by Vladimir Putin are used as material.
Narrative analysis is applied to construct alternative boundary narratives based on the material. Three distinct boundary narratives were constructed: russocentric, multinational and civic narratives. The first unifies the culturally defined core nation against an internal 'Other'; the second takes for granted the existence of boundaries between ethnic sub-nations within the supra-nation of Russia; and the third calls for a civic nation of equal citizens. My results support the claim that Russian nation building is purposefully ambiguous, as especially the high level discourse mixes all of the three boundary narratives. Each of the narratives responds to different problems within the state, suggesting that ambiguity is used as a strategy to guarantee relevant internal stability in a divided society. Only the russocentric narrative could be interpreted to advocate exclusionary nation building, while the other two gave reason to believe in the possibility of more inclusionary future directions for nation building in Russia.
My research problem can be formulated as follows: What kind of competing narratives about the internal boundaries within the Russian Federation can be found in the boundary discourse emerging around the two chosen political projects? The resulting narratives are further analyzed to find answers to the following sub-questions: Are there elements of exclusionary nation building visible in the narratives? Do the results support the claim that Russian nation building is purposefully ambiguous?
The study approaches boundaries and nations through a social constructivist lens. Boundaries are hence studied here as socially constructed lines of distinction dividing people into 'us' and 'the Others'. My theoretical framework combines border studies and studies of nation building, making use of theories of exclusionary nation building and the concept of 'the Other'. Articles from eight Russian media publications, the Strategy of National Politics, three speeches and one article by Vladimir Putin are used as material.
Narrative analysis is applied to construct alternative boundary narratives based on the material. Three distinct boundary narratives were constructed: russocentric, multinational and civic narratives. The first unifies the culturally defined core nation against an internal 'Other'; the second takes for granted the existence of boundaries between ethnic sub-nations within the supra-nation of Russia; and the third calls for a civic nation of equal citizens. My results support the claim that Russian nation building is purposefully ambiguous, as especially the high level discourse mixes all of the three boundary narratives. Each of the narratives responds to different problems within the state, suggesting that ambiguity is used as a strategy to guarantee relevant internal stability in a divided society. Only the russocentric narrative could be interpreted to advocate exclusionary nation building, while the other two gave reason to believe in the possibility of more inclusionary future directions for nation building in Russia.