Populist Tactics and Populist Rhetoric in Party Politics of Post-Soviet Russia. – Sociedade e Cultura (Brazil), v. 13, n. 2, jul./dez. 2010. P. 233–245. (original) (raw)

On Russian Populism To the memory of Allan K. Wildman

UCLA Historical Journal, 1996

To the memory of Allan K. Wildman M. AsiM Karaomerlioglu / was increasingly convinced that in Populism lay the roots, the deepest and truest origins, of contemporary Russia. Franco Venturi, Studies in Free Russia, p. 221 Z^'^^^E INFLUENCE of Russian Populism in and outside of Russia has been # g^^^^indeed. This is due to at least three important factors. First, as JL Venturi points out, the study of Popuhsm constitutes the sine qua non of any investigation of Russian history since it contributed to the foundation of Soviet Russia. Secondly, any elaborate understanding of Russian Marxism, which tremendously affected the course of the twentieth-century history, requires a meticulous historical account of Populism, from which Russian Marxism was born. And finally, as Venturi points out in the preface to his magnus opus. Roots of Revolution, Russian Popuhsm must be regarded as part of a wider European sociahst intellectual tradition.^Although Russian Popuhsts usually endeavored to prove how and why Russia was different from the West, usually their arguments were reactions and responses to the poUtical controversies then prevailing in the European socialist milieu, especially within the First International. In this paper, I intend to problematize the widely-accepted definition of Russian Populism. Instead of a "backward-looking," peasant-oriented and classreductionist definition, I propose to understand Russian Popuhsm by looking at the tension between the inteUigentsia and the Russian state. I shall discuss some basic features of Russian Popuhsm in broad terms in order to understand the motivations and ideological positions of the Russian inteUigentsia. In particular, I will concentrate on the work of Peter Lavrov, the highly influential PopuUst revolutionary of the late nineteenth century Russia. I shall also discuss 131 132 UCLA Historical Journal the Russian Populists' attitude towards liberal democracy and the peasant commune which constituted quite important elements of their ideology. My analysis begins with a critique of V. I. Lenin's widely-accepted definition of Populism as elaborated and supported by Andrzej Walicki: It was Lenin who gave it a more concrete historical and sociological connotation by pointing out that Populism was a protest against capitalismyro;n the point of view of the small immediateproducers who, being ruined by capitalist development, saw in it only a retrogression but, at the same time, demanded the abolition of the older, feudal forms of exploitation... It enables us to see Russian Populism as a particular variant of an ideological pattern which emerges in different backward societies in periods of transition and reflects the characteristic c/ass position of the peasantry. It does not mean, of course, that Populism can be regarded as a f/i'rec/ expression of peasant ideology; it is an ideology formulated by a democratic intelligentsia who in backward countries, lacking

Specifics of “Ukrainian populism”. A case study of the Servant of the People party’s campaign 2019

CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGES, 2020

Political parties use populist rhetoric in their communication with society while running electoral campaigns. Populist slogans are one of the successful instruments to win elections. Volodymyr Zelensky, the leader of the Servant of the People party was a new member in the Ukrainian electoral market in 2019. Zelensky and his party participated in the presidential and parliamentary elections, and they were an example of new political performance based on populist rhetoric.The chapter analyzes what is the specificity of populism used in the election campaign of the Servant of the People party in 2019 and tries to answer the question whether it is based on the socio-political values of citizens. The hypothesis stated that the Ukrainian populism used in the election campaign by the Servant of the People party is largely based on the socio-political values of citizens. Furthermore, it is largely based on creating a new quality of election campaigning, so we can consider it significantly different from the slogans and election measures used in Ukraine before. Keyword: populism, political campaign, parliamentary and presidential elections, political platform

Vladimir Putin’s Populism, Russia’s Revival, and Liberalism Lost

2017

In this memo, I wrestle with whether or not Vladimir Putin's regime, established initially in 2000, can properly be called populist. I argue that it has many of the core characteristics of a populist regime, but the causes of populism's rise in Putin's Russia were rather different from its development in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria as well as in the United States, and European Union. It is, therefore, a different kind of populism (and thus, I am cheered that this conference is called Global Populisms) in many, but not all respects. It is the same genus, but perhaps a slightly different species of organism.

Are post-Soviet leaders doomed to be populist? A comparative analysis of Putin and Nazarbayev

Routledge eBooks, 2021

The use of populist ideology can be an important element of the survival strategy for authoritarian leaders being an important tool for regime stabilization. The incentives for using populist ideology are shaping in response to a current combination of a threat to incumbent's rule. As the examples of Putin and Nazarbayev, ruling in neighbouring authoritarian Russia and Kazakhstan, demonstrate, the intensity and scope with which the leader resorts to the use of populism, as well as concrete content of this ideology, can fundamentally differ.

The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review (2020) 1-21 Doing Moscow's Bidding in Europe: Populist Political Movements in a Historical Continuum

The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, 2020

From the fissures of Brexit and the recent results of pan-national European Union (EU) elections, insurgent political parties are becoming a force to be reckoned with. For all their disparate centers of gravity, nearly all of them converge on the question of Euroscepticism and the liberal international order. The primary consternation, it is routinely said, is not so much their dogged populism, but that most of them are unwittingly setting themselves up to do Moscow's bidding in Europe. Drawing on Cold War historiography, this article sets out to critique how this thesis evolved along a consistent prism of ideological meta-narratives. Its key focus is highlighting how missing links in some of the seminal moments in the history of Soviet-Western relations continue to filter into explaining contemporary political developments in the EU. This article thus makes two basic conclusions. First, that there is something to be said of the insurgent political movements as committed players in the competition for the balance of power in the political berth of Europe. And in that regard, their rhetorical association with Moscow's positions is a pragmatic step in the grand strategy of national and pan-European politics. Second, Moscow, contrary to being the adversarial vector of liberal Europe, has historically identified its best interest with cooperating, if not outrightly, aligning with the Western-led postwar international liberal order.

“Populists Are Now Lying Less Than ‘Systemic Politicians’”

Russia in global affairs, 2020

Is the topic of populism relevant to modern Russia? Can our conditions produce the phenomenon that is currently observed in Europe and the United States, and is generally spreading around the world? And is it not time to abandon the model based on political parties? These issues were discussed at a roundtable held in the office of the Russia in Global Affairs journal and attended by Yuri VASIlYEV, Gleb KUznETSoV, Vitaly lEIbIn and oleg KhARKhoRdIn. Fyodor lUKYAnoV, Russia in Global Affairs editor-in-chief, moderated the discussion. Fyodor lukyAnov: Is the phenomenon which in Western discourse is commonly referred to as populism inherent in modern Russia? I think we have the same conditions that have spurred social activity in Europe and the United States, including among those sections of society which previously were extremely passive. First of all, it is the feeling of alienation on the part of the authorities. On the other hand, Russia has a completely different situation and a different political model. Should we expect to see comparable processes? Gleb kuZnetsov: Populism has been and remains quite relevant to us. Actually, we probably were a sort of trend setters in this respect. In his new book Identity Francis Fukuyama talks about prominent leaders of the new era, an era of populism, and defines populism as a regime that relies on popular support and opposes the establishment's concoctions with popular wisdom and popular tradition. He puts Vladimir Putin on a par with Donald Trump or even considers him his precursor. And as right-wing European populists and critics of populism are trying to assess the current developments, both turn to the Russian leader's experience.

Populism in the Baltic States A Research Report

Lätis ja oktoober, 2008 Leedus (2012. aasta valimiskampaania polnud uuringu alates veel käivitunud). Lisaks analüüsisime populistlike retooriliste ja tegevusstrateegiate avaldumist sotsiaalmeedias.

Populism in the Baltic States

2012

Lätis ja oktoober, 2008 Leedus (2012. aasta valimiskampaania polnud uuringu alates veel käivitunud). Lisaks analüüsisime populistlike retooriliste ja tegevusstrateegiate avaldumist sotsiaalmeedias.

Russia as an international conservative power: the rise of the right-wing populists and their affinity towards Russia

Journal of Contemporary European Studies

The majority of right-wing populists across the West share two fundamental commonalitiesthe rejection of liberal ideals that have laid the foundation for Western unity, and greater affinity towards Russia. Western right-wing populists and Russia share the ambition to revive classical conservatism, which addresses how to manage change, a key focus throughout the 19 th century and early 20 th century when modernity challenged social integrity and coherence. Russia has returned to its pre-communist role as the go-tocountry for classical conservatives in the West, although four decades of the neoliberalism consensus in the West has eviscerated classical conservatism. In its vacuum, populists are rising on a platform that scorns the unfettered liberalism of political elites as an assault on the community. Empathy with Russia, if not a common cause, is challenging the ideational structures and division of Europe.After the Cold War, the capitalist-communist divide was recast as a liberal democracy-authoritarian divide, which is now undermined by populists' view of the world split along a national-patriotism versus cosmopolitan-globalism divide where Russia transitions from being an adversary to an ally.