Vol 25, No 1 (2023): Ideas, Ideologies and Public Consent

The concept of consent is essential for every society society, affecting almost all its spheres - from everyday life to socio-political bases. Therefore, it cannot be considered accidental that both the idea itself and the diverse directions of its interpretation, dating back to the era of early modernity, today constitute one of the most priorities, intellectually saturated segments in modern socio-political theory. It is impossible to deny the appeal of the doctrine of personal consent (and the parallel thesis that no government is legitimate unless it acts without the consent of the governed). It has had a great influence on the political institutions of many modern states and has been a major factor in the direction that political theory has taken since 1600. In the second half of the 20th century, two approaches prevailed in political theory, within the framework of which the process of formation of the consensus tradition: personal and historical ones. The most impact to the theory is made by criticism of the unilinear model of consent analysis in the works of George Klosko, analysis by R.D. Bernstein of the problem of consent in the form of critical remarks on the philosophical position of R. Rorty, the concept of socialist “consent strategy” developed in the 1980s by E. Laclau and Sh. Mouffe, the controversy of the Canadian political philosopher James Tully with neo-Marxist theorists, the philosophical interpretation of consent by Jürgen Habermas as part of his analysis of the “rationalization paradox” etc. This theoretical and methodological frame becomes a basis for the thematic volume, where the articles on the history of socio-political thought are followed by the chapter devoted to the problems of Russia between cleavages and social harmony. Russian problems are blended with an international context, and the issue ends with an attempt to understand the ideological attitudes of modern youth.

The concept of “truth” as a valuable spiritual and political category is constantly present in Russian spiritual and political writings from antiquity to the present day. But in the 18th century, there is an important transformation of this concept in the domestic ideological and political discourse: Under the influence of the Western European tradition in Russian socio-political writings of the state, conservative-educational and radical-educational trends, there is a gradual transition from traditional concepts, including the concept of “truth”, to such concepts as “justice” or “common use”. Thus, it acquires a significance that persists, including in modern political science literature. However, the concept of “truth” in its traditional meaning does not disappear at all from the socio-political discourse of the 18th century, but is used mainly in fiction, primarily in poetry, and in the writings of the traditionalist-Orthodox trend. A similar conclusion was made possible by an original methodological approach: the analysis of the works of the authors of the 18th century. It was carried out on the basis of the search database of the National Corpus of the Russian language, while in total more than 800 texts created in 1701-1800 were studied, in which the words “truth” and “justice” were used. In addition to the general scientific methodological apparatus, the main research methods were content analysis and political-textual analysis.

The problems of the history of socialist ideas, their origin and possible role in nowadays became the subject of scholar interest again. The problem of the social arrangement becomes more acute today than ever. Descriptions and even attempts to construct a harmonious society appeared many centuries ago. Two revolutions The Great French Revolution and the industrial revolution annihilated the ideological basis of previous times pushing forward the class structure instead of medieval system of estates. The first ones who found out the signs of order, not complete chaos, were early socialists A. Saint-Simon, S. Fourier, and R. Owen. This research is devoted to the comparison of approaches to the idea of social harmony of Saint-Simonists and Owenists. The main research method used is political-textual analysis. The conclusion of present study confirms that Saint-Simon and Owen being on the same side, followed different ways leading to harmonious state. However, their projects were united by a common radical idea - the complete reorganization of society, first - the system of classes and estates.

The collapse of the Soviet Union, the large-scale transformation of the political and social structure in the early 1990s actualized the problem of nation-building in the new Russian state. The search for a “national idea” has contributed to the fact that over the past thirty years several dominant concepts of identity have changed in the Russian official discourse: from the denial of Soviet identity and the strategy of rapprochement with Western democracies to the construction of a great-power conservative identity of the “successor state”. The central place in the discourse of Russian identity is occupied by the problem of achieving social harmony through the elaboration of attitudes to the past, the construction of political values, the definition of symbolic boundaries of the political community. This research is devoted to the comparison of ideas about social harmony articulated within the framework of key concepts of post-Soviet identity of Russia.

Global technological transformations of key areas of life of contemporary society, the formation and active functioning of global and national digital institutions that influence current socio-political processes, and the digitalization of social relations form a demand for comprehensive scientific research on the processes of digital influence on the development and functioning of modern social systems. This article is aimed at considering the problem of the relationship between digital and worldview aspects of the functioning of modern societies. In connection with this, the research issue was to determine the degree and nature of the influence of digitalization processes, as well as directly the digital environment and institutions on the content aspects of the individual’s worldview. This research question is directly related to the study of the phenomenon of public consent in the context of the formation of digital polymentality. To answer the research question posed in the paper, the authors conducted a discourse analysis of the existing scientific literature on the relationship between digitalization and worldview in the pro et contra logic. An international expert study was also conducted, which made it possible to identify the main expert positions on the study, as well as the key risks, threats, and challenges in the field of preserving the traditional worldview and achieving public consent based on the unity of value-semantic and worldview ideas of individuals. The main conclusion of the paper is the fundamental ambiguity of the positions of scientists and experts, justified by the results of the study, in assessing the degree and nature of the influence of digitalization, the digital environment and institutions on the content parameters of the worldview of a modern person, as well as the ambiguity of the value-semantic attitudes formed and maintained in the digital environment.

The author proposes to consider ideas, values, meanings and orientations regarding the identity of Ukraine that gained independence through the concept of a social chronotope. This implies a conceptual and mental space in which temporal and spatial characteristics are combined. The researcher uses a socio-constructivist approach to identity, a discourse analysis of publications by representatives of the political and intellectual elite, and secondary sociological data. The social chronotope was formed by the Ukrainian elite based on historical myths and new geopolitical realities that made Ukraine the largest country in Europe. The most important component of the chronotope was the idea that Ukraine needs an identity that distinguishes it from Russia. If the events of 2004 determined the vector of Ukrainian identity politics as European, the Euromaidan of 2014 drew a demarcation line not only between Ukraine and Russia, but also between Kyiv as a center of political power and a symbol of political community, on the one hand, and the pro-Russian regions of the eastern Ukraine, on the other hand. Their inhabitants were denied Ukrainian citizenship, their views and values were marginalized, which destroyed the social chronotope. It is, thus, replaced with an ideological confrontation in the form of a political myth about the Europeanness of Ukraine, which is hindered by Russia and the “separatists” under its influence.

The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is the most serious crisis in international relations since the Cold War. This is not only a turning point in Russian-Ukrainian relations, but also a deep crisis in Russian-Western relations, which marked a change in Moscow’s approach to relations with the West, and the transition from past dialogue to today’s struggle. China, as a third party in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, took a neutral position from the very beginning, and ignored any requests from the United States and the West to somehow influence Russia. China’s position has increasingly attracted the attention of the Western media, and Beijing has begun to receive accusations from the West of supporting Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. This paper analyzes the articles published by Chinese academic experts on the media, and analyzes the content of Chinese popular media websites, such as CCTV News The Paper, Guanchazhe for the period from April 1, 2022 to December 1, 2022. In the course of the study, the authors come to the conclusion that the Chinese media mostly cover the events in Ukraine in a neutral way, they try to balance and not criticize Moscow when it comes to Russian-Western relations. Chinese experts have different views and thoughts when talking about the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and Russian-Western relations. Some Chinese analysts talked about Russia’s victory over the West, while others believe that Russia may end up with nothing. The authors concludes that the West and Russia may fall into a new Cold War, and this Cold War may turn out to be even more brutal than the last one for three main reasons: because of the all-encompassing military confrontation, because of economic isolation, and because of breakdown of humanitarian ties.

The concept of political correctness is essencial for the modern Western political process. The aim of the article is to find out its role and place in the political discourse of modern right-wing political organizations. The case of the British right-wing radical political party «Britain First» can be explained, firstly, by the popularity of the ideas of political correctness in UK, and, secondly, by the importance of criticism of the semantic content and symbolic nature of political correctness for ideologists the British far-right. The results of the study show that criticism of the ideas of political correctness occupies one of the central places in the ideological discourse of the right-wing radical party in UK, as well as in the rhetoric of both major British politicians and public perception. To sum up, it is worth noting that modern right-wing radical political parties, of which «Britain First» can rightfully be considered a vivid example, which actively, instrumentally and competently highlights this issues in their discourse. They realize the importance of transformation of their ideology and complementing its nationalistic the core of the agenda, which, in one way or another, affects the social, cultural and political processes in modern European states.

Modern Russian youth as a whole significantly differs from those of older generations in their values and behavioral disposition, which, in conjunction with internal heterogeneity, has a significant impact on the strategy of working with it. In connection therewith, the purpose of the research presented was the value and semantic analysis of one of the meaning-forming concepts of the person’s political representations system - the concept of the state on the basis of the political and psychological approach. The results of an all-Russian representative survey of young people aged 14-30 conducted during the autumn, 2022 served as an empirical basis for the study (sample size: 2,500). A research question was posed: what are the meanings of the idea and value of the state in the minds of modern youth? As hypotheses, the assumptions were formulated that the modern Russian youth is characterized by paternalistic orientations traditionally characteristic of the national political culture. At the same time, ideas about the state are contradictory, reflect traditional, historically established axiological interpretations and modern meanings. The overall result of the study was the conclusion about the ambivalent and unclear nature of ideas about the Russian state, with positive characteristics dominating. The attitude of young people to the state is utilitarian in nature: it is perceived as a source of benefits, responsible to citizens, they are expected to take care, protect and ensure order. At the same time, young people often do not endow themselves with responsibility to the state and society. In the minds of young people, the state is associated with such concepts as land, people and culture. At the same time, the “Russian land” is not simply perceived as a territory, but as an independent value in the context of identifying an individual with people and its culture. This interpretation has deep historical value and semantic roots. It can be judged as a modern actualization of the notions of «Russian Land» and «Russian State» noted by historians in the Russian political culture.

As a response to the special military operation, the discourse on the “colonial” nature of the Russian Federation and the prominent local identity among students in the national-territorial regions of the SFD, such as the Republics of Altai, Khakassia and Tuva, have amplified. This poses the question of the formation of a civic identity and patriotic feelings among young people as the basis for legitimizing political institutions and structures. Important mechanisms for the consolidation and mobilization of patriotic-minded youth are patriotic organizations. As a result of content analysis of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation’s information portal, social network pages of patriotic organizations (n = 121) and expert polls of leaders and members of organizations (n = 85), the authors have identified several categories of patriotic activities, which are aimed at the formation of a civic identity and patriotic feelings among young people in the mentioned regions. It was found that in all the regions studied, organizations of a military-patriotic and military-historical orientation, focused on forming a national identity, predominate. The ethnic component in the activity of patriotic organizations is more present in Khakassia and Tuva, however, in general share of patriotic organizations its representation is insignificant. The processes of standardization and unification of methods of work, formats of events and governing structures of these organizations, associated with the majority of youth patriotic organizations coming under the patronage of the federal movement “Yunarmia”, on the one hand, level out local and ethnic identities, and on the other hand, contribute to the formation of a statist model of patriotism among youth.