From Desecularization to Sacralization of the Political Language: Religion and Historiosophy in Vladimir Putin’s Preparations for War
Marcin Składanowski
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1437-8904
Cezary Smuniewski
University of Warsaw , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8973-3539
Abstract
This article aims to analyze religious and mystical elements contained in Putin’s public statements by referring to selected examples characteristic of contemporary Russian identity politics. In order to demonstrate the importance of religious and mystical threads in Putin’s speeches, we chose five specific cases. The analysis of these statements indicates that religious and mystical motifs in Putin’s language are an attempt at self-creation for the purpose of domestic policy. We claim that this self-creation is more of an effort to strengthen Putin’s public support than proof that he borrows patterns for shaping Russia’s political life from the Russian religious and political tradition. Putin’s rhetoric is not so much a desire for an axiological renewal of Russian politics but an attempt to search for the new legitimization of the power system he created in confrontation with the West.
Keywords:
Russia, Vladimir Putin, Russian Orthodox Church, church and state, Russian neo-conservatismReferences
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The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
Rev. Marcin Skladanowski, Prof. Dr habil., a research professor of Russian religion and society and international security studies; associate dean of the Faculty of Theology of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. Main fields of research: Russian neo-conservatism and neo-imperialism; Russian state ideology; church-state relations in Russia.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1437-8904University of Warsaw
Rev. Cezary Smuniewski, Dr habil., a researcher in the field of theology and security studies, associate director of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre “Identity – Dialogue – Security” at the University of Warsaw, associate professor at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies of the University of Warsaw. Main areas of interest: theory of security, relations between religion and social and public life.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8973-3539License
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