Nationalism as Opposition: The Extra-parliamentary Camp

Abstract

In this chapter I start out from the idea that a part of Russian nationalism, usually defined as radical nationalism, ultranationalism, the extreme right, extremism, and so forth, can be more rigorously defined as extra-parliamentary. All attempts to classify these nationalist movements according to doctrine seem to me to be doomed to failure. While it is possible to specify the singularity of each movement through its unique combination of ideological elements and the political trajectory of its leader over the last 20 years, it is difficult, if not impossible, to place them systematically using global criteria such as right/left or ethnonationalism/imperialism. In theory all the conceptual combinations are possible, which means that neither the choice of political regime (monarchism or republicanism), the conception of nationhood (culturalist or racialist), nor the special focus or otherwise on the Jewish question or on religious beliefs (Orthodox, neopagan, or indiffèrent) enable any meaningful classification. Moreover, the development of new, less ideological forms of radie ality with more developed social bases has slowly rendered such classifications inappropriate, signaling a new phase in the evolution of extra-parliamentary politics in Russia. Finally, some political parties and politicians in power espouse doctrines that are just as radical as those evoked here, but they have an acquired legitimacy that enables them to escape being classified as extremists.