Fishman Leonid
Abstract. The article is devoted to the question: what role do references to the revolution play in legitimizing the modern Russian state? The author shows that by evading legitimating oneself by revolutions it legitimizes itself by referring to Modernity. The Russian political regime cannot legitimize itself separately neither by any of the social revolutions that have taken place in our history, nor by a reference to the Western revolutions. Therefore, it must (with all the reverence towards “spiritual bonds”), justify itself with references to “Modernity in general”. At the same time, in utilitarian terms Modernity is the result of private non-political revolutions, and the use of political technologies. Today, the reference to stability and tradition is still the same disguised reference to Modernity. The Russian state is built in the interests of the ruling elite, which itself would like to enjoy benefits of Modernity, not caring about accustoming the majority to these benefits. However, a state that wants to imitate its modernity with references to the domain “small revolutions” faces the fact that Modernity contains an irremovable reference to revolution in the social and political sense – a revolution that makes the achievements of domain revolutions of Modernity available to the majority.
Keywords: Modernity, state, revolution, counterrevolution, legitimation, ruling elite.