Russia seems to be hurtling toward fascism. Vladimir Putin and his allies-domestic and foreign-have obliterated and colonised Ukrainian cities in a "holy war," committed over 100,000 war crimes , introduced Draconian domestic crackdowns on free speech and political opposition, and rewritten the constitution to seize power in perpetuity. The state and its propagandists declare their intentions to destroy the Ukrainian state and commit genocide against the Ukrainian people, to overthrow the liberal international order, and to recreate the Tsarist and Soviet empires. Meanwhile, the Russian population languishes in a militarising culture in which civic life has been replaced by a cult of war, past and present. Each of these phenomena invites comparisons with past fascist regimes.
This volume gathers leading experts in the first scholarly study of a new Russian fascism that draws on distinctly modern forms of control and violence as much as on historical precedents. An array of theoretical debates and case studies from across disciplines makes this a pioneering study of modern Russian politics. The volume's contributors include Jaroslava Barbieri, Paul D'Anieri, Jolanta Darczewska, Maria Domanska, Ian Garner, Joanna Getka, Andreas Heinemann-Grüder, Taras Kuzio Alexander J. Motyl, Andreas Umland, and Michal Wawrzonek.
Russia seems to be hurtling toward fascism. Vladimir Putin and his allies-domestic and foreign-have obliterated and colonised Ukrainian cities in a "holy war," committed over 100,000 war crimes , introduced Draconian domestic crackdowns on free speech and political opposition, and rewritten the constitution to seize power in perpetuity. The state and its propagandists declare their intentions to destroy the Ukrainian state and commit genocide against the Ukrainian people, to overthrow the liberal international order, and to recreate the Tsarist and Soviet empires. Meanwhile, the Russian population languishes in a militarising culture in which civic life has been replaced by a cult of war, past and present. Each of these phenomena invites comparisons with past fascist regimes.
This volume gathers leading experts in the first scholarly study of a new Russian fascism that draws on distinctly modern forms of control and violence as much as on historical precedents. An array of theoretical debates and case studies from across disciplines makes this a pioneering study of modern Russian politics. The volume's contributors include Jaroslava Barbieri, Paul D'Anieri, Jolanta Darczewska, Maria Domanska, Ian Garner, Joanna Getka, Andreas Heinemann-Grüder, Taras Kuzio Alexander J. Motyl, Andreas Umland, and Michä Wawrzonek.
"Putin's regime evidently shares many striking similarities with imperial nationalism and fascism-something mainstream scholarship on contemporary Russia prefers to ignore or discard. Yet Russia's brutal and unprovoked full-scale aggression against Ukraine has conclusively proven such an
approach to be shortsighted and mistaken. This pioneering study represents a valuable intellectual contribution to a long-overdue and honest discussion of the nature of the totalitarian regime in Moscow. This makes the book a required reading for students of Russia, international relations, and comparative politics, as well as anyone who is trying to make sense of Russian belligerence and expansionism."
-Petro Kuzyk, Associate Professor of International Relations, Ivan Franko University of Lviv
