The topic of patriotism has become increasingly popular in Russia, especially given the country’s sensitive political environment, in which the Russian authorities actively exploit and propagate patriotic themes in order to fulfill the goals of the regime. In this context, research on patriotism and its manifestations in modern Russian society is both relevant and timely.
To examine how the Russian public understands patriotism today, the Institute of Modern Russia launched a project entitled “Faces of Russian Patriotism,” which is dedicated to studying this phenomenon.
As part of this project, IMR developed a research paper entitled “What’s in a Name? Understanding Russian Patriotism.” A portion of the data used in this paper was collected in collaboration with the Levada Center, Russia’s leading polling organization. An omnibus (nationwide) survey on Russian patriotism was conducted in February 2014. Preliminary results were presented at a panel organized by IMR and entitled “The Meaning of Patriotism in Post-Soviet Russia” as part of the World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN), held at Columbia University.
Another part of this project takes a more intimate and artistic look at Russian patriotism. In 2013, IMR commissioned New York photographer Misha Friedman to conduct a visual exploration and cultural study of the concept of patriotism in contemporary Russia. Through photographs of and interviews with people from all walks of life throughout Russia, ranging from pensioners and paratroopers to students and businessmen, Friedman seeks to explore the random collection of ideas that compose the Russian conception of patriotism today. Portraits, interviews, and audio clips are presented on an interactive website (patriotism.imrussia.org) that was launched during the summer of 2014.
