Contesting P utin's nation‐building: the ‘ M uslim other’ and the challenge of the R ussian ethno‐cultural alternative

This article explains the crystallisation of a new R ussian national discourse, shaped by a challenge posed to P utin's statist non‐ethnic national model by a popularly formed ethno‐cultural alternative, constructed through negation of the ‘ M uslim other’. The article describes this new and previously overlooked phenomenon of R ussian nationalism and explicates the social mechanism behind its formation. The article concludes that when rampant corruption exists, generating a breakdown of legal order, the ‘other’ is defined through behaviour that deviates from accepted local norms, while the contrasting normative ‘general public’ is defined as ‘ R ussian’. Such group definitions mean that the current process of R ussian grass‐roots exclusive national consolidation is based predominantly on culturally based behavioural codes, rather than on mere ethnic or religious affiliation, as is widely believed. Additionally, a conceptual landmark discourse shift from the question of R ussia's mere plausibility as a nation‐state to a focus on its ongoing definition is demonstrated.