The Russian People and National Identity

9 august 2008

Valery Tishkov

© "Russia in Global Affairs". № 3, July - September 2008

Valery Tishkov, a Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is Director of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology at the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is also a Member of the Public Council of the Russian Federation.

Mechanisms for affirming national identity as a foundation of Russia’s statehood have long been the source of much controversy among Russian policymakers and experts, while debates on this issue are superficial and overly emotional. Juggling with such fundamental notions as ‘people’ and ‘nation’ involves serious risks for society and the state. In the Russian political vocabulary, the word ‘nationalism’ is attributed a negative meaning. Meanwhile, nationalism played a key role in the formation of modern states and largely remains a major political ideology of the modern age.

In Russia, these debates have contributed to the development of three main characterizations of Russian society and the state:

First, Russia is a multination state, which makes it totally different from other countries;

Second, Russia is a state of ethnic Russians (Russkii) with a host of other ethnic minorities whose members can either identify themselves as Russians or acknowledge that the ethnic Russian majority rightfully enjoys the state-building status;

Third, Russia (Rossiya) is a national state featuring a multi-ethnic “Rossiyan” nation (Rossiyane) underpinned by the Russian language and culture, and embracing members of other ethnic communities (usually defined as peoples, nationalities, ethnic groups or nations).

The Russian authorities, including the current and former presidents, Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, have embraced this final characterization, which advances the notion of the Rossiyan people as a historical entity or civic nation. While it has its opponents, particularly among champions of ethnic nationalism who have proclaimed “a failure of the construction of a civic nation,” this interpretation of Russia’s current identity has been accepted and supported by a large number of intellectuals and policymakers as the only feasible option for Russia. Indeed, the formula is in line with the state (civic) national identity that has been adopted and proven successful in other major multi-ethnic countries around the world.