The Collective Memory of WWII and Legitimacy in Putin’s Russia
Evgenia Olimpieva, University of Chicago
Paper description/abstract:
The paper argues that in the attempt to rework its failing legitimacy formula in the face of the perceived threats of domestic uprisings and to generate popular support, the Russian regime has turned to the tool of the collective memory of WWII, which has become the foundation of the geopolitical ideology providing the moral justification of the incumbents’ hold on power. The idea of geopolitical ideology is that Russia has a special historically justified place in the international affairs and a moral entitlement to defend itself and the world against ‘the global evils.’ While in the past, ‘the global evil’ was Hitler and Nazi Germany, today such evil is the unipolar and audacious behavior of the United States. The discourse analysis of the president Putin’s Victory Day parade speeches reveals that in order to support the geopolitical ideology, a specific type of memory of WWII was developed that emphasizes Russia’s exceptional role in the Great Patriotic War and presents it as the world’s defender from global aggressors and endows this type of memory with a ‘holy,’ uncontestable status. The paper also argues that the revolution and the following war in Ukraine were instrumental in strengthening this ideology and making it more relevant than ever for the perception of today’s reality by Russians. Investing into shaping the collective memory was a long-term project aimed at gaining support of the general public that yielded a high pay-off and has been one of the factors that have greatly contributed to the improved levels of approval and stability of Putin’s regime. These findings suggest that collective historical memory is an important tool available to authoritarian leaders that can become very useful at times when a regime struggles with legitimacy crisis.
Discussant: Alexandra Chinchilla
April 28, 2017
11am-12:20pm in Pick Hall, Room 407
University of Chicago
Tea will be served. You are welcome to bring your own lunch or snacks for sharing.
The paper is available on our website under the ‘Papers’ tab. Password: reeca17eo
For more information, visit our website: https://voices.uchicago.edu/reeca/
Please contact me (christymonet@uchicago.edu) if you have any questions or if you believe you may need assistance.
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REECA workshop is an interdisciplinary scholarly forum where graduate students and faculty can explore different perspectives on area studies as they pertain to these deeply interconnected regions of the world. We invite topics of discussion from a wide range of disciplines, including but not limited to Slavic studies, political science, social thought, history, intellectual history, comparative literature, cinema studies, sociology, philosophy, divinity studies, economics, anthropology, public policy, comparative human development, and legal studies.
The remaining schedule for this quarter is:
May 12
“Empathy and Form: The Bakhtin Circle and the Perspective of Architectonics”
Zachary King, Slavic Languages and Literatures PhD Candidate (UChicago)
June 2
“Finding a Light in Dark Times: Hannah Arendt contra Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons”
Chris Chambers, MAPH Student (UChicago)