Russian State-Civil Identity Through the Perception of History, Culture and Socio-Political Life

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the current state of the Russian state-civil identity in comparison with other macro-identities. The current state of the Russian identity and the significance of the components of its structure in the views of respondents are analyzed on the materials of the Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, WCIOM, RLMS-HSE, in-depth and expert interviews and focus groups. The experts were humanities scientists, university and school teachers, journalists, public and ethnic activists from different cities of Russia. In 2020 COVID-19 has affected people’s moods, and the willingness to associate themselves with Russians has greatly decreased, which could be affected by insufficient support from the state, combined with strict restrictions. The analysis of mass perceptions of Russians about the role of civil, historical, cultural and emotional components of Russian identity was carried out. The study showed that the common state remains the basic consolidator of Russian identity, and in less than a year the share of Russians who consider the “historical past” and “native land” to be important unifying components has increased. The memory of the military victories won by our people is currently the main historical consolidator of the identity of Russians. The tragedies experienced together turn out to be a little less important, although they are not completely forgotten. Young people and creative intelligentsia in interviews spoke about the importance of a versatile approach in teaching history: “it is necessary to study both ups and downs.” Culture is still an important integrator of Russian society, but we are not talking about “high culture”, but rather about mass culture. In the “culture”, Russians are most united by common holidays, wellknown songs, works of literature and films. But the civil component of Russian identity is still poorly developed – people practically do not associate participation in elections, referendums, meetings, rallies and volunteer movements with Russian citizenship.