Komin Mikhail

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  • ¹ 4, 2016

    • Dilemma of Russian nationalism: “Imperial” and Ethnic Nationalism in Post-Soviet Russia

      The article analyzes trajectories and prospects of the Russian nationalism. Having identified two types of nationalism in Russia – “imperial” and ethnic, and a negative relationship between the extent of their prevalence, E.Ponarin and M.Komin hypothesize that after 2014 the Russian authorities, whose national identity policy used to be contradictory, opted for “imperial” nationalism. Several factors are at play: not only a shift in the official policy towards consolidating “imperial” nationalism, but also the increased susceptibility of masses to anti-Americanism under the influence of the events in Ukraine, the revival of a superpower image of Russia after the military operation in Syria, as well as the gradual erosion of the importance of an ethnic “other”.

      DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2016-83-4-82-93

  • ¹ 1, 2016

    • “LES MISERABLES”: COMPARATIVE BIOGRAPHIES OF UKRAINIAN AND “NOVOROSSIYAN” COMMANDERS

      The paper tests the hypothesis about the similarity of the social origin of the commanders of volunteer battalions that distinguished themselves with the beginning of the military operations in South-East Ukraine. On the basis of a comparative analysis of the biographies of more than 50 Ukrainian and “Novorossiyan” commanders, the authors show that the latter, at the very best case, belong to the lower middle class. The results of the research conducted by the authors make us look with a critical eye at some of the major tenets of the popular theories of democratization and modernization that explain transition to democracy by the extension or maturation of the middle class. On the one hand, this reflects the specificity of the post-Soviet space, where the other, less privileged social groups play a vital role in the political regime transformation rather than “the angry citizens”. On the other hand, this allows us to put the political processes unfolding in South-Eastern Ukraine into the global processes.

      DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2016-80-1-73-89