To be called human! An ethnosymbolic approach to Belarusian national identity mobilization
Author
Dudak, Matej
Term
4. term
Publication year
2023
Submitted on
2023-10-04
Pages
164827
Abstract
Specialet undersøger, hvordan belarusisk identitetspolitik siden 1990’erne bidrog til massemobiliseringen under de hidtil usete anti‑regimeprotester i 2020 og til den nationale identitetskonstruktion, der udfoldede sig i bevægelsen. Med udgangspunkt i etnosymbolismen—som fremhæver symboler, myter, elites rolle, geografi, sprog og historiske fortællinger—kombinerer studiet et litteraturreview med en teoristyret analyse af protesternes symbolske praksisser og deres sammenhæng med mobiliseringsformer. Analysen dækker mobiliseringens forløb og kommunikationsmåder, centrum‑periferi‑dynamikker, de vigtigste identitetssymboler anvendt i protesterne samt regimets identitetsstrategi efter 2020. Specialet konkluderer, at 2020‑mobiliseringen og identitetsdannelsen ikke fuldt ud kan forklares gennem et rent etnosymbolsk perspektiv: Selvom bevægelsen trak på forud eksisterende etnonationale symboler, omfortolkede og kombinerede demonstranterne dem i lyset af nye krav, ændret social samhørighed og afstandtagen fra tidligere fortællinger, og de tilegnede sig endda visse regimeknyttede elementer for at frigøre dem fra deres officielle betydning. Gennem denne symbolske omkodning blev der formet en ny, overvejende civil identitet med svagere etniske markører, hvilket nuancerer forståelsen af forholdet mellem identitetspolitik og masseprotest i Belarus.
This thesis examines how Belarusian identity policy since the 1990s contributed to the unprecedented mass mobilization in 2020 and to the national identity construction that emerged within the anti-regime movement. Using ethnosymbolism—which highlights the roles of symbols, myths, elites, geography, language, and historical narratives—the study combines a literature review with a theory‑guided analysis of protest symbolism and its links to modes of mobilization. The analysis addresses the mobilization process and communication practices, center–periphery dynamics, the key identity symbols adopted by protesters, and the regime’s post‑2020 identity strategy. The thesis finds that the 2020 mobilization and identity formation cannot be fully understood through an ethnosymbolist lens alone: although the movement drew on pre‑existing ethnonational symbols, protesters reinterpreted and combined them in light of new demands, changes in social cohesion, and a break from earlier narratives, and even appropriated some regime‑associated elements to detach them from official meanings. Through this symbolic reworking, the movement synthesized a largely civic identity with diminished ethnic content, refining our understanding of how identity politics and mass protest interact in Belarus.
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