Ideology and Meaning-Making Under the Putin Regime

Marlene Laruelle is Research Professor of International Affairs and Political Science and Director of the Illiberalism Studies Program at The George Washington University. Trained in political philosophy, she works on the rise of illiberalism in different national contexts and has published widely on Russia's society and politics, as well as foreign policy.

"The most comprehensive examination of how illiberal ideology is crystallizing in Putin's Russia. This book confirms Marlene Laruelle's reputation as a leading expert in the field. It is essential reading to understand not only 'how Russia works' but also the broader dynamics of ideological contestation."—Mikhail Suslov, University of Copenhagen "One of the world's premier experts on Russian political thought, Marlene Laruelle offers a rich, nuanced, and lucid explication of 'Putinism,' its mélange of ideological formulations across a quarter century, its intellectual-historical heritage and grassroots sources, and its dissemination in contemporary media and popular culture."—Edith W. Clowes, University of Virginia "Marlene Laruelle's book is a major contribution to our understanding of the nature, evolution, and sources of popularity of Putin's regime. It forces us to rethink much of the conventional wisdom about Russia today."—Ivan Krastev, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" "Laruelle's thorough examination of the ideological trends underpinning modern Russia demonstrates how these are the product of a process of co-creation by state and society, rather than Kremlin diktat. Understanding Russia has rarely been more important, and this detailed and nuanced analysis is an important contribution to that cause."—Paul Robinson, University of Ottawa "This book proposes a critical reconstruction of the intellectual genealogies of the regime: to understand the ideological construction of Russia in all its diversity and homogeneity, analyzing its ability to capture its internal cohesion alongside its contradictions, ambiguities, and omissions."—Sakhri Mohamed, World Policy Hub

• FiguresAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPART I THE REORDERING OF IDEOLOGY1. Actors, Networks, and Structures2. The Sedimentation of IdeologyPART II FROM LEARNING TO UNLEARNING THE WEST3. The Painful Relationship to a Polysemic West4. Byzantium: The Christian Europe5. Spiritual Security: Statehood, Patriotism, History6. Russia's Imperialness and the Fight for UkrainePART III THERMIDORIAN RUSSIA: The Counterrevolution7. Civilization: Rejecting Western Universalism8. Conservatism: Russia's Answer to Liberalism9. Katechon: Reaction and EschatologyPART IV SPEAKING TO THE WORLD: Russia's Geo-Imaginaries10. Eurasia: The Transcontinental Space11. The Russian World: From Messianism to Irredentism12. Anticolonialism: Russia as a Global South PowerConclusionNotesSelected BibliographyIndex