The New Russian Nationalism Imperialism, Ethnicity and Authoritarianism

the new russian nationalism

be no insurmountable wall between pagans and secularists (see
below). As for relations between pagans and Orthodox nation-
alists, however, these are significantly worse than in the early
1990s, although not everywhere.

Secularists

There were practically no secular Russian ethnonationalists until
about a decade ago. Nationalism indicated religiosity – either
Orthodoxy (according to tradition), or paganism, which functioned
as ‘anti- Orthodoxy’. Religious arguments were a regular feature
of nationalist organisations and often led to schisms. Observing
this, some nationalist leaders stopped drawing attention to reli-
gious questions and talking openly about their personal religious
affiliation. The designation of a given section of the nationalist
movement as ‘secularists’ does not mean that its adherents do not
have a personal religious faith and/or do not practise any religion;
personally they may be practising or non- practising adherents of
a religion, generally Orthodox Christianity or native beliefs. It is
rather that, for secularist nationalists, religion is not an important
issue worth mentioning in ideological and political documents.
One of the first secular nationalist organisations was the Slavic
Community of St Petersburg, led by Roman Perin. In an interview,
Perin explained the reasons for his then- innovative approach to
creating the community thus:

We have an Orthodox section... We have a Vedic section... We

prioritise the ethnic over the religious, the class and the political...

Creating the community, I was convinced that if society is divided any

further now, that if we contribute to this, if even the patriots them-

selves are going to invest their strength in division, then this will end

in tragedy... The first year was really difficult. There were scandals,

arguments, emotions. We even had to expel people from the com-

munity, those who particularly distinguished themselves by scandal-

mongering. But then everything calmed down.^16

The same position is discernible in an interview with a member of
the community’s council, Igor Kovalev: