Patriotic Education in Contemporary Russia - (Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society) by Anna Sanina (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This book outlines the complexities, contestation, and contradictions in the formal organization and contents of patriotic education in post-Soviet Russia. While the topics of patriotism and patriotic education are highly political and politicized, this study approaches them from a more sociological perspective. It is based on a variety of sources and empirical data, including the indicators and budgets of federal and regional patriotic-education programs and on field research. The book explores in depth all major agents of patriotic education in Russia, such as the government, schools, youth associations, churches, and the film/cartoon industry. It traces the development of governmental patriotic programs in recent decades, discusses how the Soviet past and political traditions influence today's system of patriotic education, and presents numerous case studies illustrating real-life processes in current patriotic education.

Review Quotes

Aiming to provide a new formal perspective on Russian patriotic education, this book includes field research results on different agents of the Russian patriotism, such as regional and local authorities, schoolteachers, students and youth leaders. It provides illustration from contemporary Russian life, as well as a lot of interesting quotations, questions and dialogues.--Markku Kangaspuro, University of Helsinki

The book effectively demonstrates the myriad ways in which contemporary Russian patriotism is constructed in parallel with the official ideological picture. It is an important contribution to the field of sociological research focusing on the system of Russian patriotic education.--Sarah D. Phillips, Indiana University

This book is the first sociological study of patriotic education in Russia, a major topic to understand contemporary Russia and the complex relationship between the state and the society. Sanina offers a comprehensive approach of many different aspects and actors of this massive trend of 'patriotizing' the Russian society. A must-read book for all those following ideological evolutions of Russia.--Marlene Laruelle, George Washington University

About the Author

Anna Sanina is associate professor of public administration at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg, Russia. She has been the initiator and principal investigator of several projects on social aspects of the Russian political system, the formation of a Russian national idea, political behavior in social media, and city governance.