Toward an Uncivil Society? Contextualizing the Recent Decline of Extremely Right-Wing Parties in Russia

Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Working Paper No. 02-03, Harvard University

46 Pages Posted: 7 Feb 2017

See all articles by Andreas Umland

Andreas Umland

Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies; National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA)

Date Written: May 1, 2002

Abstract

Since the late 1990s, the relative weight of ultra–nationalist parties in Russian parliamentary and extra–parliamentary politics has, after reaching a certain peak in the mid–1990s, declined. The paper argues that this trend can, for a number of reasons, not be taken as proof for a lasting evaporation of right–wing extremist ideas from high politics in Russia. In particular, parallel developments within the voluntary sector, namely the emergence of a multifaceted uncivil society, suggest that Russian right–wing extremism may currently experience a period of transition rather than decay. The example of the rise of the notorious neo–fascist Alexander Dugin from a lunatic fringe publicist to a highly placed political advisor with close links to both, the legislative and executive branches of the Russian state, in 1998–2001, is used as an illustration that radically anti-Western ideas will continue to have an impact on Russia's elite thinking, and policies.

Keywords: Russia, right-wing extremism, ultra-nationalism, civil society, uncivil society, Russian politics, post-Soviet affairs, Eurasianism

JEL Classification: Y80

Suggested Citation

Umland, Andreas, Toward an Uncivil Society? Contextualizing the Recent Decline of Extremely Right-Wing Parties in Russia (May 1, 2002). Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Working Paper No. 02-03, Harvard University, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2890627 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2890627

Andreas Umland (Contact Author)

Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies ( email )

Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies
102 51 Stockholm
Sweden
+4917682092727 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.ui.se/english/about/staff/andreas-umland/

National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA) ( email )

vul. Voloska 8/5
Department of Political Science
Kyiv, 04070
Ukraine

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.ukma.edu.ua/index.php/osvita/fakulteti/fsnst/kafedra-politologiji/vykladachi

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