Patriotism and Patriotic Education in Contemporary Russia

Abstract

This article examines Russian patriotism in the global context of patriotic education, civic education, and nation-building. It cites data from all-Russian surveys and World Values Survey Wave 6 2010–2014, as well as data from the content analysis of eight patriotic education documents from the United States, Singapore, China, and Russia. The uneven nature of Russians’ patriotic self-identity shows that external events play a large role in the formation of patriotism, while Russian society consolidates not through the cultivation of positive values, but on the basis of negative factors whose impact leads only to blind—and not to constructive—patriotism. This approach integrates citizens’ emotional relationship with their country and their state, civic, and national identities and emphasizes the importance of traditions and values by creating a construct of active and free social behavior without impinging on alternative values, traditions, and beliefs.