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Miscommunicating Social Change

Lessons from Russia and Ukraine

Olga Baysha

Miscommunicating Social Change analyzes the discourses of three social movements and the alternative media associated with them, revealing that the Enlightenment narrative, though widely critiqued in academia, remains the dominant way of conceptualizing social change in the name of democratization in the post-Soviet terrain. The main argument of this book is that the “progressive” imaginary, which envisages progress in the unidirectional terms of catching up with the “more advanced” Western condition, is inherently anti-democratic and deeply antagonistic. Instead of fostering an inclusive democratic process in which all strata of populations holding different views are involved, it draws solid dividing frontiers between “progressive” and “retrograde” forces, deepening existing antagonisms and provoking new ones; it also naturalizes the hierarchies of the global neocolonial/neoliberal power of the West. Using case studies of the “White Ribbons” social movement for fair elections in Russia (2012), the Ukrainian Euromaidan (2013–2014), and anti-corruption protests in Russia organized by Alexei Navalny (2017) and drawing on the theories of Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, and Nico Carpentier, this book shows how “progressive” articulations by the social movements under consideration ended up undermining the basis of the democratic public sphere through the closure of democratic space.

Lexington Books

Pages: 246 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-5893-8 • Hardback • October 2018 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

978-1-4985-5894-5 • eBook • October 2018 • $45.00 • (£35.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Open Access Titles / General

Miscommunicating Social Change

Lessons from Russia and Ukraine

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Miscommunicating Social Change analyzes the discourses of three social movements and the alternative media associated with them, revealing that the Enlightenment narrative, though widely critiqued in academia, remains the dominant way of conceptualizing social change in the name of democratization in the post-Soviet terrain. The main argument of this book is that the “progressive” imaginary, which envisages progress in the unidirectional terms of catching up with the “more advanced” Western condition, is inherently anti-democratic and deeply antagonistic. Instead of fostering an inclusive democratic process in which all strata of populations holding different views are involved, it draws solid dividing frontiers between “progressive” and “retrograde” forces, deepening existing antagonisms and provoking new ones; it also naturalizes the hierarchies of the global neocolonial/neoliberal power of the West. Using case studies of the “White Ribbons” social movement for fair elections in Russia (2012), the Ukrainian Euromaidan (2013–2014), and anti-corruption protests in Russia organized by Alexei Navalny (2017) and drawing on the theories of Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, and Nico Carpentier, this book shows how “progressive” articulations by the social movements under consideration ended up undermining the basis of the democratic public sphere through the closure of democratic space.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 246 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-5893-8 • Hardback • October 2018 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

978-1-4985-5894-5 • eBook • October 2018 • $45.00 • (£35.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Open Access Titles / General

Author

Olga Baysha is assistant professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part I. Theoretical Foundations

Chapter 1. Democratic Globalization or Global Coloniality? From Perestroika to the Present.

Chapter 2. The Genealogy of the Uniprogressive Imaginary

Chapter 3. Discourse Theory by Laclau and Mouffe and Its Further Elaborations

Part II. The Uniprogressive Discourse of Social Movements in Russia

Chapter 4. “They Were Very Far Removed from the People…”

Chapter 5. White Ribbons and the Echo in the Dark

Chapter 6. The New Protest Generation

Chapter 7. Antagonism without Agonism

Part III. The Uniprogressive Discourse of the Euromaidan

Chapter 8. Shadows of the Past

Chapter 9. The Uniprogressive Imagination of the Euromaidan

Chapter 10. The Antagonisms of the Euromaidan

Chapter 11. The Discursive-Material Knot of the Euromaidan

Chapter 12. In the Name of National Unity

Part IV. Conclusions

Chapter 13. Global Coloniality Instead of Democratic Globalization

Epilogue. Personal Reflections

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Reviews

This work will nourish the reflections of researchers interested in radio, public space, communities migrants / minorities and underground cultural production. It will also be of interest to multiple community radio volunteers who want to feed their inspiration for renewed inclusiveness. [Translated from original French]

— Communication

An impressive feat of political and intellectual imagination, although rooted in detailed empirical research. A major landmark in the study of post-communist Russia and Ukraine.
— Richard Sakwa, Professor of Russian and European Politics, University of Kent

One of the most important and original books on the mediation of social change and "development." It tears apart the fabric of neocolonial platitude and calls intellectuals to account for their failure to understand that effective response to social injustice first requires subversion of its corresponding epistemological injustice.
— Oliver Boyd-Barrett, Bowling Green State University

Miscommunicating Social Change is applied discourse theory at its best, driven by theory, but with a keen eye for socio-political complexity and messiness. The book is a chilling and sobering analysis of the derailment of democratic protest and activism, which does away with the romanticism of revolution. It is a grim reminder that social change projects built on essentialist and antagonist logics carry the seeds of destruction, of both themselves and their others. Most importantly, the book convincingly demonstrates how important the discursive is for the study of conflict and democracy, reminding us that we first think the enemy to death, and only then move in for the kill.
— Nico Carpentier, Uppsala University

Features

OPEN ACCESS

The publication of this book in an open access format is made possible by a grant from the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow.

Open Access content has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) license.
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Lessons from Russia and Ukraine

Olga Baysha

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Lessons from Russia and Ukraine

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