2.4. Russian Civic Nationalism

Russia, over the course of the twentieth century, underwent the process of transition from ethnic-based nationalism towards civic nationalism which “propagates the nation as a political community of citizens with equal rights and duties. Man was to be liberated from the social bonds – church, class, serfdom, family – that had kept him ignorant for centuries. Central to the new ideology was the notion that every person, irrespective of religious, ethnic or class background, could freely join the nation as long as (s)he swore allegiance to a set of political principles and institutions representing the nation’s values and objectives” (Jamaat, 2006; p.4).

The concept of “Russian”, which, during the czar’s rule meant ethnic affiliation with one of the three Eastern Slavic folks of “Velikoross” (Great Russian), “Maloross” (Small Russian) and “Byeloross” (White Russian), was rapidly shaped during the Soviet period and continued its development until today. Russia, being a multi-ethnic state, adopted the Soviet cosmopolitan model and continues to impose civic nationalism as the key social institution. Modern meaning of “Russian” has excluded the communist ideology (which was one of the core principles during the Soviet rule) and now contains only the knowledge of Russian language and one’s willingness to link his(her) identity to the Russian state and its current political objectives which are described further (Zaripova, 2012).

One example which proves this point is the adoption of a new citizenship law, which allows obtaining Russian citizenship in the simplified manner for those who themselves or whose relatives live or lived on the territory of former USSR; this simplified procedure is also applicable to those who possess the knowledge of Russian (Zamahina, 2014). In this sense, Russia acts in the same way as democratic United Kingdom, where “those who can integrate and who, therefore, will contribute to Britain’s economy are to be rewarded with citizenship – just so long as they can speak English, Welsh or Gaelic and can answer a few questions about British history and social norms” (Bosworth, 2008; pp.204-205).

Such shift from ethnic to civic was adopted happened due to diversity of the Russian society and proved to be an effective justification for the authority of the current government: if the state would be busy building a model that would exclusively include ethnic Russians in it, other peoples of Russia would not accept such political authority. De Greiff claims that “in a culture such as ours, the only forms of rationally acceptable justification for binding norms is, precisely, the ability to stand up to critical scrutiny and prove acceptable to those who have to live by them, in a discursive situation in which all are treated as free and equal participants” (2012; pp.419-420).

Having observed the features of civic nationalism in Russia, it becomes easier to understand the government’s anxiety about Chinese immigration: Chinese, who never faced direct Russian jurisdiction and who never experienced any influence from the Russian culture, are obviously not connected to the society of Russia and, hence, have little motivation to integrate into it; they are in fact the most “alien” of all migrants.

By continuing to apply this logic, it can be claimed that the stronger Chinese presence becomes in the Far East, the bigger becomes the possibility of the region turning Chinese, what is likely to lead to Russia losing its authority in the area due to the fact that Chinese themselves have their own form of nationalism and connection-building. The claim is supported by Cabestan who argues that nationalism in China includes different sub-categories of nationalism as well: namely, the communist ideology and loyalty to the Communist Party, which can be called a civic version of Chinese nationalism; on the other hand, there is also racist “revanchist nationalism” which advocates Chinese superiority and desire to avenge the age of humiliation, which China experienced during the 19^th – early 20^th centuries (2005; pp.2-3).