Konstantinov M.S. The problem of ideological decontestation of patriotism: on the materials of sociological research

Abstract: Based on the material of the comprehensive sociological research of far right ideologemes within the consciousness of student youth of Rostov Oblast conducted in the 2014-2016 by the group of scholars from the Southern Federal University and Southern Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, this article analyzed the specificity of ideological conceptualization of the patriotic sense and idea. The subject of this research is the patriotism in modern Russia. The author thoroughly examines the theoretical and methodological issues of the study of patriotism, as well as proposes the cognitive-constructivist model of its analysis.  In the concept of implementation of such model, the work analyzes the potential of integration of the idea of patriotism into the key political ideologies of modern Russia. Special attention is given to the far right interpretations of the patriotic sense and dangers associated with the exploitation of patriotism by the far right groups. The author’s concept of political ideologemes formulated based on the notions of Mikhail Bakthin’s “doubtful and Slavoj Žižek’s “floating signifiers”, comprised the theoretical base of the complex sociological study. In the process of conceptualization of the far right ideologemes, the author also used Michael Freeden’s conceptual-morphological approach and Roger Griffin’s notion of “groupuscular right”. The aforementioned concepts were adjustet to the Russian political and sociocultural specificity. The author demonstrates that the attempts of determination of the “validity” of patriotism lead to multiplicity of its descriptions and discredit the examined phenomenon, as well as the means of its research. On the applied level, the work presents the systematized data of the survey pertaining to the peculiarities of conceptualization of the patriotic sense within the consciousness of student youth of Rostov Oblast. The author illustrates the impact of peripheral concept upon the formation of this feeling in the context of various ideologies, including the far radical interpretations. Based on the conducted analysis, the potential of the far radical interpretations of the idea of patriotism among youth is being determined. 

Keywords: