Mémoire
| Résumé : | On this dissertation I examine the use of nationalism of the incumbent political party and the political opposition in Russia from 2007 to 2021. The paper’s framework consists in a theoretical research about nationalism in Russia since the collapse of the USSR and its imperialistic identity and in an empirical research based on four case studies; United Russia (UR), the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party and Yabloko. I have led my research using party material and party manifestos of the last electoral campaigns and recent documents provided in the parties’ websites. Likewise, I lead my research using an institutionalist approach with a deductive reasoning based on, comparison, discourse analysis and databases. My goal is to understand the use and repetition of the terms ‘nation’, ‘nationalism’, ‘ideology’ and ‘national identity’ in order to have a comprehensive understanding of the parties’ ideology and their use of nationalism in their political speech. On my research I have set out two hypotheses, first: ‘conservative and right-wing parties have a more exclusivist vision of the Russian nation (based on religion and/or ethnicity), whereas liberal and progressive parties would have a more inclusive one’, and second; ‘conservative parties relate more to a Eurasian identity, whereas liberal and progressive parties would have a more European one’. Hence, I have come to the following results; the most conservative parties, United Russia, the CPRF, and the Liberal-democratic party show a more exclusivist vision of Russia as they do not want any intrusion from the West. In fact, later on this paper I explain why the Liberal Democratic Party is not liberal nor democratic. On the other hand, Yabloko, a more liberal and progressive party, has a more inclusive vision of the Russian nation as it has a more positive view of the West and economic development. Furthermore, UR, CPRF, and LDPR show something closer to a Eurasian identity than the liberal party Yabloko, who will be more orientated towards Europe. Notwithstanding, United Russian does not show a clear identity, what makes difficult to provide a certain response. |
