Critical commentary on the discursive state of affairs in Russia prior to this year’s Duma elections

PhD Researcher Mario Baumann contributed an analytical commentary to the latest issue of the Russian Analytical Digest.

It was published on Russian Analytical Digest No. 266 – Preparing for the Parliamentary Elections of 2021: Russian Politics and Society.

Mario Baumann’s commentary Fighting for Discursive Hegemony: The Kremlin’s Foundation is Shaking in a nutshell:

1. Kremlin’s discursive hegemony is shrinking, especially among the young
2. Two main challenges to authority: domestic dissent & Western alternative narratives
3. Kremlin’s strategy: linking domestic dissent with ‘external threat’ to legitimise increasing repression at home & suppress Western discourse