Russia’s ‘Myth’ of Equality in a Securitized Context

The paper will examine the intersection of notions of equality of Russia’s ethnic groups with a drive for national unity as a vehicle to stability and security. Russia’s virtual (rather than de facto) equality stems from the propagation of a ‘myth’ of equality of nations and ethnicities – introduced during the Soviet period – while the reality has been a tendency to entrench forms of social inequality. Despite the discrepancy between rhetoric and reality, and the fact that discrimination and xenophobic attitudes continue to affect the daily lives of persons belonging to national minorities, under Putin, narratives revolving around a myth of equality have been consolidated: notions on peoples’ equal worth and ‘right to development’ continue to resonate with some Russian citizens of minority ethnic background. The paper explains the link between perceptions of equality and a drive for national unity and security; the paper will argue that equality is often perceived as sameness, and national unity conflated with the elimination of (potentially destabilizing) difference. Second, the paper will situate Russia’s drive for national unity and security in its opposition to the West. Such opposition manifests itself in a dichotomous view of ‘Western’ forms of multiculturalism on one side and Russia’s ‘own path’ in managing ethno-linguistic diversity on the other. Official discourses distance Russia’s ‘spiritual and traditional values’ – which inter alia, are construed as leading to a generally stable, tolerant society – from the perils of a decadent ‘West’, whose mores and norms are treated as exogenous to Russia.