Illiberal civil society in Russia, 1985-2002

Conventional interpretations of civil society tend to present horizontal associations as an exclusively liberal phenomenon. Drawing on the alternative theory of “Bad” Civil Society, which argues that civil society is a variable that can be both liberal and illiberal, this research tackles the problem of understudied illiberal horizontal associations in Russia by conducting the first systematic empirical investigation of the emergence of conservative civil society network in the late 1980s – early 1990s. This research indicates that since the 1980s, middle and upper-middle class citizens started to engage the Russian Orthodox Church and regional politicians in the creation of a variety of conservative civic organizations such as the Russian Zemstvo Movement, the Foundation of St. Andrew, Golden Vityaz’, and others. After the collapse of the USSR, these networks promoted a resurrection of Orthodox values and helped to build the foundation of new political Russian conservatism through many projects from school reforms to influencing Russian Constitution and legislation. This powerful network infiltrated the top Russian elites and the Kremlin before Vladimir Putin came to power. My research tracks how Putin and his allies engaged with this preexisting illiberal civil society and ultimately drew on its ideas and tapped into its networks for support. However, as Putin centralised power, his administration increasingly came into conflict with this strongly federalist movement, causing bitter resentments among the leaders and members of these organisations. While there are dozens of excellent studies of liberal civil society in post-Soviet Russia and a promising emerging wave of history of the 1990s, this dissertation is be the first comprehensive study of illiberal civil society. As such it will help to explain the rise and persistence of illiberal politics in Russia. My research will also help to understand the rise of illiberal politics in former Socialist states. As illiberalism spreads through countries like Poland and Hungary, once considered bulwarks of liberal civil society, I hope that my study will be of interest to everyone trying to understand the potentialities of liberalism and illiberalism in post-communist societies.