Naive Monarchism and Rural Resistance in Contemporary Russia

Abstract

This article applies the concept of "naive monarchism" (i.e., the traditional peasant expressions of reverence for the tsar as their benefactor) to study contemporary rural politics in authoritarian Russia. While Russia is not a monarchy, and its rural dwellers are not traditional illiterate peasants, the veneration of its leader manifests itself in many rural grievances.

Agrarian social movements: The absurdly difficult but not impossible agenda of defeating right‐wing populism and exploring a socialist future

“…It is important not to forget that, historically, rural social classes and groups have a checkered record in terms of supporting right wing, even fascist political projects. The contemporary rural support for Trump in the United States (Ulrich-Schad & Duncan, 2018), Putin in Russia (Mamonova, 2016(Mamonova, , 2018(Mamonova, , forthcoming 2019, Le Pen in France, Erdogan in Turkey (Adaman, Arsel & Akbulut, forthcoming 2019;Gurel et al, forthcoming 2019), Modi in India, the Red Shirt movement in Thailand supporting Thaksin (Nishizaki, 2014), and the Greenshirts of 1920s and 1930s French led by Henry Dorgeres (Paxton, 1997) all remind us of past and present rural support to right-wing political ideas and initiatives. Bello (2018) offers a critical reflection on the relationship between the rise of fascism, the peasantry, and the middle class in Chile, Indonesia, Italy, the Philippines, and Thailand, seen from the contemporary context.…”

Corporate social responsibility, coexistence and contestation: large farms’ changing responsibilities vis-à-vis rural households in Russia

“…The rural population, although clearly the less powerful actor due to the virtual lack of social movements, is not completely passive in shaping the trajectory. Through various "weapons of the weak", plot holders try to influence LFEs, agroholdings and local authorities to continue social support (Nikulin 2003;Mamonova 2016;Moser 2016).…”

“…In 2016, Krasnodar family farmers organised a tractor march to Moscow with banners criticising regional agrarian policy, aiming to hand over a petition to the Russian government. 19 The police stopped the march and detained the organisers (Mamonova 2016).…”

Post-socialist smallholders: silence, resistance and alternatives

“…In Russia, expressions of smallholders' grievances similarly refer to state power, but rather than referring to state institutions and ideologies more broadly, they mostly address (or cite) President Putin. Written petitions to the president, delegations sent to the Kremlin and renaming of places after Vladimir Putin are some of the tools used by Russian smallholders, in what might be called naïve monarchism (Mamonova 2016). Regardless of the weapons smallholders choose to fight for their rights, they exercise agency in attempting to achieve their political and economic goals through the situational character of their actions (Turner and Caouette 2009).…”