Use of Word ‘Undesirable’ in Ever More Contexts Both Reflects Putin’s Policies and Helps Him Achieve His Goals, Arkhipova Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 2 – Russians are using the word “undesirable” (nezhelatelny) in ever more contexts, the result of Putin’s use of the term against his opponents and a pattern that intentionally or not helps him achieve his goals, according to independent Russian anthropologist Aleksandra Arkhipova.

            The spread of the use of this term is especially striking, she suggests, because in the past it was not recognized as standard and was used by only a few people for only a few things (t.me/anthro_fun/3508 reposed at echofm.online/opinions/kak-bystro-v-nash-yazyk-voshlo-slovo-nezhelatelnyj).

            But in recent years and especially in recent months, Arkhipova says, Russians have taken the term initially used by the Kremlin to designate those it opposes and applied it to others that they do not like even if the powers that be have not – or at least not yet – designated as something that should be shunned.

            This trend not only helps the Putin regime achieve its goals and apply related terms to ever more groups but also accelerates the atomization of Russian society as many parts of it openly express the idea that other parts are “undesirable,” something that will make the coming together of Russians for any purposes far more difficult.