Civil vector of nation-building in modern Russia: factor of social movements

Abstract

The article examines the potential of social movements in Russia as participants in the process of nation-building, with an emphasis on identifying the prospects for strengthening its civil vector. In this problem field, there are two main blocks that are disclosed based on discourse and event analysis. The study of discursive practices of movements selected with consideration of certain criteria is focused on identifying key images in target and value orientations that are fixed in a set of program texts, interfaced with the main problematic aspects of nation-building at the present stage. The second nodal component is the event component, which allows us to evaluate the achievements of the considered movements in this plane, as well as the specifics of their status and role characteristics. The conducted research has shown a noticeable presence in the analyzed discursive practices of semantic structures that have a predominantly conservative essence, which is more correlated with traditional political mechanisms and the leitmotif of official discourse. However, there is also a critical component that passes from a latent state to a more explicit one, and the peculiarities of the ideological specification of some movements do not prevent the perception of important conservative attitudes, often interpreted in a historical context. It, on the one hand, expresses certain protest moods and attempts to put forward an alternative position in relation to the mainstream government, but, on the other, it contains destructive principles and accumulates negative images, which, in contrast to the stated priorities, does not contribute to social consolidation. However, such a positioning strategy can also increase the actualization of the authorities' intentions to take more account of public needs and adjust their own agenda and actions through positive increments, including supporting social activity in different incarnations. The civil vector of nation-building is formed thanks to the efforts of many participants in the internal Russian political space. At the moment, this is more of a formal set, but the positive results of specific activities are obvious. We recognize the role of social movements primarily as agents, but for now and in the medium term - not as subjects: both nation-building and other processes at the national level.

Keywords

• nation-building
• national idea
• social movements
• all-russian civil identity
• patriotism