Merzyan Ethnic Activism Making Major Contribution to Russian Civil Society, Kikhlanki Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Dec. 23 – One of the biggest mistakes many have made in studying post-Soviet Russian society is to view ethnic activism and civil society activism as completely separate and at odds with one another, with the growth of one leading to the decline of the other rather than the two being mutually re-enforcing.
    But a new study of the neo-Merzyan movement in Central Russia avoids that mistake and argues that this ethnic movement “makes a useful contribution to post-Soviet Russian society” (merjamaa.ru/index/in_search_of_merjamaa_aapo_kihlanki/0-43 and merjamaa.ru/news/aapo_kikhlanki_v_poiskakh_merjamaa_vi_chast_merjanstvo_i_grazhdanskoe_obshhestvo/2024-12-17-1612).
    Prepared by Aapo Kikhlyanki, a student at the University of Kent, the study documents how those involved in the ethnic movement and those in the civil society gain skills that re-enforce one another and that this has meant that the two re-enforce one another rather than compete.
    This pattern is likely more typical of smaller ethnic movements and earlier civil society activism than may be the case when either grows beyond a certain point, but this observation is an important reminder that the two are closely interlinked, something that should be included in discussions of ethnicity and civil society more generally.
    For background on Marjamaa activism, a Finno-Ugric movement in Central Russia near Moscow, why the Kremlin opposes it, and how this ethnic revival is promoting civil society, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2015/03/peoples-russians-assimilated-in-past.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2014/11/window-on-eurasia-local-studies.html.