Since Putin Launched His Expanded War in Ukraine, Memories of the 1990s have Again become Central and Contested Issue in Russia, Zavadsky Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Feb. 24 – Vladimir Putin’s use of his version of the 1990s – a wild decade in which Russia lost so much – to generate support for himself and his supposed restoration of stability and confidence is widely recognized, but the way in which that decade has again become a center of dispute in Russia since February 2022 has not.
    But Andrey Zavadsky, a Russian scholar at Dortmund University, argues that because popular and diverse memories of the 1990s remain in the Russian population, that decade and memories about it have now reemerged as central issues in political discussions about Putin’s expanded war in Ukraine (ridl.io/ru/pamyat-o-rossii-devyanostyh-i-ee-aberratsii/).
    After Putin launched his war and the West responded with sanctions, he writes, many in Russia talked about how to adapt in a situation which many of them felt was “like in the 1990s,” as Moscow scholar Olga Malinova pointed out in her article, “Memory of the 1990s as a Resource of adaptation to a New Crisis,” Politeia 110 (3): 91-114 at researchgate.net/publication/374073751_Memory_of_the_1990s_as_Resource_of_Adaptation_to_New_Crisis_Analysis_of_Russian_Media_Discourses.
    Just as in the first decade of this century the Kremlin hasagain worked hard to promote a single version of the 1990s not just to set itself apart and justify what they are doing to the Russian people but also to demonize their opponents who view both the current situation and the past very differently.
    The regime once again has been mostly successful, but the fact that many Russians still have living memories of the 1990s and know that reducing its image to only one of the many aspects of developments then means that that decade will continue to echo and be a source of controversy however much the Kremlin wishes otherwise.