Abstract
The article offers a critical overview of nine views common in academia related to Russian messianism. The main premise of messianism which is important for its political dimension, is: Providence has a plan along which History unfolds, and in this plan the chosen one (individual or collective) has a special role to play (mission). Under «mission» we understand that a certain community (state/nation) is exceptional and that this exceptionality manifests itself in its special destiny. I discern three distinctive, but interconnected, features of «mission»: (1) the conviction of having a special destiny, (2) a sense of moral superiority, (3) the conviction that the state’s activity is motivated not only by its own national interest but also by a higher cause important for a broader (regional, global etc.) community. The first two components of mission express exceptionalism of the mission-beholder, while the third component refers to the universalistic nature of the calling.This selection of nine views is not a complete catalogue but it does include the core concepts that may be encountered while reading about Russian messianism. The article seeks to verify and put in order the existing body of knowledge on this topic. The critical verification is based on the material that comes from two main sources. The first is the existing body of academic literature (in English and Russian) which is used to identify and cross-examine the views circulating among academia. The second source comes with the material gathered as a result of the content and discourse analysis of the official statements of Vladimir Putin. The article is structuralised along the enumeration of nine popular views on Russian messianism. Each view is critically combined with the academic literature and the empirical data. The views discussed in the article tend to essentialise Russian messianism and essentialise Russia as well.
Highlights
Messianism is probably among the top 15 notions used to characterise the Russian political tradition
The first is the existing body of academic literature which is used to identify and cross-examine the views on Russian messianism circulating among academia
To avoid that and with no ambitions to create an all-encompassing definition, we can safely claim that the main premise of messianism, rooted in Jewish and Christian traditions is as follows: Providence has a plan along which History unfolds, and in this plan the chosen one has a special role to play
Summary
The first two components of mission express exceptionalism of the mission-beholder, while the third component refers to the universalistic nature of the calling This selection of nine views is not a complete catalogue but it does include the core concepts that may be encountered while reading about Russian messianism. It is a belief that one’s nation is to serve a redemptive role in the history of mankind This formulation indicates that messianism is connected to the sense of exceptionalism (being chosen) which in turn manifests itself in the sense of having a unique mission in the world. The views listed below tend to essentialise Russian messianism and, as a consequence, to essentialise Russia as well
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