Putin’s Pastorate

Abstract

In this article, I argue that Foucauldian concept of pastorate is an appropriate tool to analyze power relations in authoritarian contexts, as it takes into consideration different ways authoritarian system manifests itself. Following Carrette, this article proposed translation of pastorate through four indicators: (1) references to transborder sovereignty, (2) securitization discourse, (3) direct involvement, and (4) sexualization of the figure of the pastor. Most importantly for International Relations (IR), pastorate has dramatic implications for a state’s foreign policy. At the same time, the concept of pastorate shows how post-structuralism is embedded with a range of relevant themes in international studies that pertain to security, gender, and overlap of domestic and foreign policy.

Sovereignty, Discipline, Governmentality, and Pastorate: The Ménage à Quatre of Contemporary Authoritarian and Right-Wing Populist Power

“…Having said this, Gaufman (2017) has recently demonstrated in detail that and in which way rationalities and practices of pastoral power in the Foucauldian sense are applied in Russia under Putin. Gaufman highlights that the politics of transnational cultural sovereignty of Russianness (see 2017, pp. 76–79) and flock security (see 2017, pp.…”

“…76–79) and flock security (see 2017, pp. 79–82), the politics of homophobia (see 2017, pp. 80–81), as well as the rigorously masculine (see 2017, pp.…”

“…Gaufman highlights that the politics of transnational cultural sovereignty of Russianness (see 2017, pp. 76–79) and flock security (see 2017, pp. 79–82), the politics of homophobia (see 2017, pp.…”

“…79–82), the politics of homophobia (see 2017, pp. 80–81), as well as the rigorously masculine (see 2017, pp. 84–85) and at the same time particularly dutiful representation of power and of Putin as a person (see 2017, pp.…”

“…80–81), as well as the rigorously masculine (see 2017, pp. 84–85) and at the same time particularly dutiful representation of power and of Putin as a person (see 2017, pp. 83–84) in Russian politics correspond to the core attributes of pastoral power as described by Foucault.…”