What kind of Russianness? : Exploring the role of traditional family in constructing the Russian national identity during “the decade of childhood”

Sammanfattning: Family and children are brought to the front in contemporary Russia and constitute an important policy area. Manifesting the centrality of family and children, the period 2018―2027 has also been officially proclaimed “the decade of childhood”, leading to numerous policy initiatives and momentous media attention. The thesis explores this current development with a particular interest in what role the family plays in asserting and negotiating (state) power and in the overall national project of constructing Russianness. The aim is thus to examine the articulations of Russianness and family in policy and media in contemporary Russia. The analysis is conducted mainly at the level of discourse and is inspired by Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. Applying constructivist theories of nationalism in conjunction with feminist theories that critique the concepts of the nation and the state, the thesis demonstrates how the discourse articulated in policy documents and state-controlled media interconnects “family”, “tradition”, and “Russianness” and what possible effects are produced as a result. It also discusses how categories of gender, class, ‘race’/ethnicity and sexuality inform the articulated national identity. The thesis argues that despite civic “Russianness” (rossiyskaya naciya) being furthered as the desired national project, a number of articulations clearly point to nation’s ethnic character. As “Russianness” and “tradition” are loosely defined the viability of such articulations is questioned, given both Russia’s history and the coming transformations of the Russian welfare state.