Civilizations as Ontological Security?: Stories of the Russian Trauma

The study addresses the phenomenon of civilizational discourses in Russia from the perspective of ontological security theories. It argues that the discourse on "Russian civilization" or the "Russian world" is a form of establishment identity-building practices that marries a culturalist vision of Russia to narratives of traumas or ruptures in its biographical narrative. Thus, the holistic notion of a civilization is an attempt to construct unity across ideological, spatial, and societal cleavages associated with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and earlier critical points in Russian history. The article further argues that much of the discourse on the "Russian world" produces a notably "securitized" or "closed" identity that resists change and inhibits Russia's adaptation to its postimperial circumstances.