27.07.2026

Selective memory and symbolic chaos: domestic legitimation in Putin’s Russia

The paper explores how Vladimir Putin’s Russia builds political legitimacy through a deliberately contradictory politics of memory.

The paper explores how Vladimir Putin’s Russia builds political legitimacy through a deliberately contradictory politics of memory. History is not passively remembered but actively curated to sustain authoritarian rule and neutralise historical trauma. This “symbolic chaos” merges imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet legacies into a flexible narrative that turns the past into a strategic resource for state power.

A publication by Alexey Uvarov.

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Контакты

Фонд им. Фридриха Эберта

российская программа Фонда им. Фридриха Эберта

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