Loose Talk about ‘Good Russians’ and ‘Bad Non-Russians’ Reflects Far Deeper and More Dangerous Problem, Sevrinovsky Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Dec. 2 – Many people, ranging from Putin’s propagandists to “good Russians” among his opponents are all too ready to blame the Chechens and Buryats for the worst excesses in the Russian campaign in Ukraine, a form of xenophobia that the pope now finds himself among as well, Vladimir Sevrinovsky says.

            Such people, the Russian commentator continues, talk about “the special features of ‘mentality’ but most often behind that are hidden unjustified generalizations and stereotyp’’’es based on a sense of the superiority of those who say such things and ignorance of what is actually taking place and why (cherta.media/interview/xorohij-russkij-ploxoj-nerusskij/).

            “The problem of the exoticization of the peoples of Russia and a contemptuous attitude toward them as ‘younger brothers’ has existed for a long time,” Sevrinovsky says. The war in Ukraine has only brought it to the fore and involved more people, including many who on reflection should see that it is ahistorical and unethical.

            The Russian authorities, of course, will prefer to ignore such xenophobia and chauvinism, “as if they don’t exist,” he continues, “but for the opposition press, avoiding such colonial discourse is a direct responsibility” and that can be done by applying what he calls “the Podolsk test.”

            Whenever anyone is going to talk about events in Chechnya or Tyva, he should ask himself: would this text be in demand if the actions described were in the Russian oblast of Tobolsk. If so, then such talk is fine; if not, then what is going on is either “the pursuit of exoticism” or open xenophobia.

            It would not come into anyone’s head to talk about a Tobolsk official who had a lover, for example; but many Russians are obsessed by the fact that some men in the North Caucasus have a second wife. And while family violence in the North Caucasus because of some supposed cultural traditions is often discussed, family violence in Russian areas reflecting alcoholism isn’t.

            “There is not one piece of research which has shown that the level of family violence in the Caucasus is higher than in other regions of Russia,” Sevrinovsky says; “but there are local differences.” Those can and should be discussed, but they must be put in the context of the more general problem.

            The only reliable means of avoiding such mistakes is to have a deep knowledge not only of the region itself but also of the general problem. That is seldom on offer and so what may in fact be true in a narrow sense is false in a broader sense. As William Blake correctly pointed out, “the truth when spoken viciously is exactly the same as an outright lie.”