“Nationalism as an Argument in Contemporary Russia – Four perspectives on language in action”.
University of Helsinki
Veera Laine
FIIA’s Research Fellow Veera Laine will defend the doctoral dissertation entitled “Nationalism as an Argument in Contemporary Russia – Four perspectives on language in action” in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, on 1 October 2021 at 13:00. The public examination will take place at the following address: Metsätalo, Sali 1. Livestream.
Professor Luke March, University of Edinburgh, will serve as the opponent, and Professor Juhana Aunesluoma as the custos.
This dissertation analyses the uses of the concept of nationalism in Russia from a historical perspective. It is based on four empirical studies examining textual material produced between the years 2000 and 2020. During this time, and after the so-called “conservative turn” in particular, the state leadership in Russia adopted increasingly authoritarian policies vis-à-vis society, and started to portray Russia as being under an external threat. The annexation of Crimea and the onset of the war in Ukraine in 2014 solidified the way in which recent political changes in Russia were characterised as “growing nationalism”. The dissertation examines the concept of nationalism in Russian politics and analyses the linguistic means used in the shaping of nationalism.
The dissertation has been published in the series Commentationes Scientiarum Socialium by The Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters.
The dissertation can be accessed on Helsinki University webpage.
