Russian Nationalism in Stavropol

Stavropol has made the news as of late with its rise in traditional Russian nationalism that has put its crosshairs on the minority Muslim population in the area. Although the area is determined to be approximately 80% ethnic Russian and muslims taking up roughly 10% of the population there have been two major movements against the minority groups. Recently there has been a rise in the implementation of Russian Cossack's becoming "deputized" to patrol the streets, and through brands of borderline hooliganism and physical intimidation, keep the minorities in line. The idea of an ethnic Russian in itself is a difficult concept to grasp in the first place. Being one of the oldest countries in world history, as well as the largest, Russia has historically been one of the most ethnically diverse cultures in the world. To claim someone ethnically Russian then runs into a grey area that I believe is decided through language and the individuals religion. Throughout the world people are discerned between one group or the other by dialect of a common language spoken, or a different common language all together. What is happening most commonly in Russia is that Religion is being used to determine what is "un-Russian". Even though Islam has a very deep history in Russia leading up to the earliest of tsarist Russian history, because of conflicts in the Caucasus from Peter the Great's reign and climaxing during Catherine the Great's the relationship has been strained. That is why I believe the local government of Stavropol has condoned and glorified this Russian nationalist movement. The relationship between these two groups of common Russians runs very deep and books have, and will continue to be written on it. I only hope to shed some light in a short post on the relationship between these two groups. Russian nationalism posts a danger much greater than what has been documented so far. Russia being the multi-ethnic country that it is, if divided by linguistic, cultural, or religious ideology would literally be torn apart from its borders to the inner city.

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Comment by Richard Byington on March 21, 2013 at 5:48pm: Sadly the issue of neither the nationalists nor liberal-democratic proponents not caring to explore the history of a group of people being indigenous to certain areas is what causes some of the longest lasting psychologically, and physically damaging effects. And those damages provide a counter-productive outcome of fostering more hatred for each cases oppressors.

Comment by Ilya I Alekseyev on March 21, 2013 at 5:02pm: Lithuania and Sweden have enacted similar measures. The question of who is indigenous to begin with is something neither nationalists not liberal-democratic proponents actually care to explore in detail. What happens is the political derivation of legal and extra-legal claims from unexamined conceptions of moral worth.

Comment by Richard Byington on March 21, 2013 at 4:41pm: I definitely see your point Ilya, but another issue that pops up in this particular area of the world is that in multiple points in Russian history these areas were found to be under control of multiple sovereign nations. While it is indeed inside of what is current day Russia, those people that are living within it that are not "ethnic" Russians can still be considered just as indigenous as the Russians living there. Also, yes nationalism and ethnocentrism is a re-occurring theme in not just Russia but Europe as well. However, what makes Russia's case particularly interesting is that the nationalist movement is currently being approved and sponsored by the government. President Putin has not only allowed, but approved of the actions of cities like Stavropol on their deployment of nationalist laws and use of groups of people like the Cossacks. Something of course is lost in my small post and there is indeed a lot of grey areas simply because of time and effort, but the use of the Cossacks is a much larger issue than what it is lead on to be. Throughout Russian history the Cossacks have been a literal and figurative Russian ethnic entity that was charged with protecting the Russian border from the "Islamic hordes" of the east and the heretics of the west. There is a nationalist symbology in their use to suppress groups like the Muslim minority in Stavropol and cities like it. Along with the rise of neo-Nazi and ultra nationalist groups inside of Russia that became publicly evident during the parliamentary/presidential election protests in 2012. If history of not just Russia but of the world has shown, probability and plausibility do not always win out in the end. Russia is showing a dangerous level, all be it small, of nationalism/ultra-nationalism.

Comment by Ilya I Alekseyev on March 21, 2013 at 3:19pm: Nationalism and ethnocentrism is a general ethos emerging or re-emerging in Europe. Russia is no exception. The claims made by nationalists aren't as simple as they might appear. After all, the fundamental value of nationalists is the cultural integrity of the region. This claim is usually accepted when we discuss indigenous peoples in the Amazon, Africa, and so on. The claim to a cultural integrity is stronger from an ethical standpoint if one considers a violation of a culture to be a sort of defamation of both identity and property. It is further the contention of nationalist movements that they are not obligated to harbor immigrants and their primary obligation is to advance and perfect their own civilization.

The issues with such claims that they place intangible harm over tangible damage.While one can appeal to a meta-ethical system which can support such a hierarchy of values, it is improbably to actually believe in such a hierarchy. Thus, nationalist laws actually violate psychological plausibility through advancing the principles contrary to reasonable conceptions under the law.

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