CONTEMPORARY CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF RUSSIAN CONSCIOUSNESS: UNDERSTANDING THE PHENOMENON OF NECRO-IMPERIALISM
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18372/2412-2157.42.20996Keywords:
ideology, postmodern dictatorship, necro-imperialism, imperialism, necropolitics, neototalitarianism, social necrophilia, imperial consciousnessAbstract
The article is devoted to the analysis of concepts and theoretical models that make it possible to explain the specific features of the contemporary Russian political regime and the transformation of imperial consciousness in the conditions of post-Soviet reality. The relevance of the study is determined by the need for a conceptual understanding of new forms of imperialism that cannot be fully described using the traditional categories of classical imperialism or ideologically driven totalitarianism. The objective of the study is to identify the semantic content of concepts and notions describing a new form of imperialism, to determine its socio-historical, worldview, existential, and socio-political foundations, and to compare this concept with other analytical approaches used in contemporary academic literature to describe the evolution of the Russian regime. The aim of the article is to determine in what way the contemporary Russian regime represents a new phenomenon compared with similar aggressive regimes that existed earlier in history. Research methodology includes methods of description, comparison, generalization, and critical evaluation of various conceptualizations of Russian imperialism in terms of their correspondence to historical realities and the current social situation. Research results. The article argues that despite ideological amorphousness and the desire to keep the population in a politically passive state, the Russian leadership has been able to mobilize society for an aggressive war by appealing to pre-reflective attitudes within mass consciousness. As a result, a particular public mindset has emerged – social necrophilia – signifying the mutation of imperial consciousness into a new form: necro-imperialism. In the Discussion, the main theoretical approaches used to analyze the contemporary Russian regime are compared. Conclusions state that necro-imperialism represents a specific form of imperial consciousness based on the cultivation of death, dehumanization, and the simplification of complex social reality
References
Список літератури
Волковський В. П. «Русскій мір» як сучасна російська громадянська релігія: політично-філософський вимір дослідження. Мультиверсум. Філософський альманах. 2023. Вип. 2 (178). Т. 1. С. 3–33. DOI: 10.35423/2078-8142.2023.2.1.1.
Волковський В., Самчук Р. Чи можлива «філософія після Бучі»: внесок війни в філософію. Філософія освіти. Philosophy of Education. 2023. Т. 29, № 1. С. 22–51. DOI: https://doi.org/ 10.31874/2309-1606-2023-29-1-2.
Говорун К. М. Російська церква й українська війна. Theological Reflections: Eastern European Journal of Theology. 2022. Vol. 20, №. 2. P. 37–44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29357/2789-1577.2022.20.2.3.
Говорун К. М. Сучасна російська ідеологія війни як форма фашизму та рутинізація війни. Українське релігієзнавство. 2025. № 98-99. С. 153–160. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32420/2306-3548/2025.98-99.17
Єрмоленко А. Війна як соціокультурний феномен: круглий стіл «Філософської думки». Філософська думка. 2022. № 3. С. 7–58.
Карпіцький М. М. Суперечність у структурі релігійного досвіду: виправдання війни в контексті власної віри. Українське релігієзнавство. 2026. № 100. С. 120–128. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32420/2306-3548/2026.100.13
Філософія науки і культури: словник / за ред. Н. Хамітова. Київ : КНТ, 2024. 437 с.
Behrends J. C. Defizitärer Totalitarismus oder die Rückkehr der Diktatur. Totalitarismus und Demokratie. 2024. Bd. 21. S. 57–80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13109/tode.2024.21.1.57.
Guriev Sergei, Treisman Daniel. Informational Autocrats. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 2019. Vol. 33, № 4. P. 100–127. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.33.4.100.
Khamitov N. The War in Ukraine and the New Humanism: David versus Goliath. Meta-Anthropology of the History of the 21st Century. Sofia : Kibea Publishing, 2023. 124 p.
Lebedev D. Propaganda Networks, Media Imperialism, and the War in Ukraine. Studies in East European Thought. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-025-09785-z
Lozka K. The Creation of Death-Worlds: Visual Necropolitics and Russia’s War on Ukraine. Nationalities Papers. 2026. P. 1–17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/nps.2025.10116.
Makarychev A., Medvedev S. Biopower in Putin's Russia: From Taking Care to Taking Lives. Budapest ; New York : Central European University Press, 2024. 186 p.
Merkel W. Putins Reich. WZB-Mitteilungen: Quartalsheft für Sozialforschung. Berlin : Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB), 2023. Iss. 179. S. 45–48.
Nadskakuła-Kaczmarczyk O. The Power of Russian Propaganda: Identity-Related and Authoritarian-System Correlated Factors. Polish Political Science Yearbook. 2025. Vol. 54(3). P. 75–88. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy202533
Robra K. Warum hört der seit 2022 in der Ukraine tobende Krieg nicht auf? Munich : GRIN Verlag, 2025. 36 S. URL: https://www.grin.com/document/1599880 дата звернення: 14.02. 2026.
Tyczko K. „A co to jest Rosja – teraz już nie wiem”. Ewolucja światoodczucia w „Crime” Asi Wołoszyny wobec innych jej sztuk. Rusycystyczne Studia Literaturoznawcze. 2023. № 33. S. 1–39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31261/RSL.2023.33.02.
Tyczko K. Motyw śmierci Putina w sztuce uczestniczki tzw. putinowskiego exodusu Esther Bol „Отродье [или] смерть путина”. Rusycystyczne Studia Literaturoznawcze. 2025. № 35. S. 1–23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31261/RSL.2025.35.05.
Volkovskyj V., Samčuk R. Filosofie po Buči: současné diskuse v kontextu ukrajinské filosofie. Filosofický časopis. 2024. Roč. 72, č. 2. S. 315–327. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46854/fc.2024. 2r.315.
Worschech S. Freiheitsschauplatz? – Eine Einleitung. Ein Gesellschaftsportrait der Ukraine. Baden-Baden : Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH and Co. KG, 2025. S. 11–30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748937128-11.
References
Volkovskyi, Volodymyr P. 2023. “Russkii mir” yak suchasna rosiiska hromadianska religiia: politychno-filosofskyi vymir doslidzhennia.” [“Russkii mir” as a Contemporary Russian Civil Religion: A Political-Philosophical Dimension of Research]. Multyversum. Filosofskyi almanakh [Multiversum. Philosophical Almanac] 2 (178), vol. 1: 3–33. https://doi.org/10.35423/2078-8142.2023.2.1.1
Volkovskyi, Volodymyr, and Roman Samchuk. 2023. “Chy mozhlyva ‘filosofiia pislia Buchi’: vnesok viiny v filosofiiu.” [Is “Philosophy after Bucha“ Possible?: The Contribution of War to Philosophy]. Filosofiia osvity [Philosophy of Education] 29 (1): 22–51. https://doi.org/10.31874/2309-1606-2023-29-1-2
Hovorun, Cyril. 2022. “Rosiiska tserkva y ukrainska viina.” [The Russian Church and the Ukrainian War]. Theological Reflections: Eastern European Journal of Theology 20 (2): 37–44. https://doi.org/10.29357/2789-1577.2022.20.2.3
Hovorun, Cyril. 2025. “Suchasna rosiiska ideolohiia viiny yak forma fashyzmu ta rutynizatsiia viiny.” [Contemporary Russian Ideology of War as a Form of Fascism and the Routinization of War]. Ukrainske relihiieznavstvo [Ukrainian Religious Studies] 98–99: 153–160. https://doi.org/10.32420/2306-3548/2025.98-99.17
Yermolenko, Anatolii. 2022. “Viina yak sotsiokulturnyi fenomen: kruhlyi stil ‘Filosofskoi dumky.” [War as a Sociocultural Phenomenon: A Round Table of “Filosofska Dumka”]. Filosofska dumka [Philosophical Thought] 3: 7–58.
Karpitsky, Mykolai. 2026. “Superechnist u strukturi relihiinoho dosvidu: vypravdannia viiny v konteksti vlasnoi viry.” [Contradiction in the Structure of Religious Experience: Justification of War in the Context of One’s Own Faith]. Ukrainske relihiieznavstvo [Ukrainian Religious Studies] 100: 120–128. https://doi.org/10.32420/2306-3548/2026.100.13
Khamitov, Nazip, ed. 2024. Filosofiia nauky i kultury: slovnyk [Philosophy of Science and Culture: Dictionary]. Kyiv: KNT.
Behrends, Jan C. 2024. “Defizitärer Totalitarismus oder die Rückkehr der Diktatur.” Totalitarismus und Demokratie 21: 57–80. https://doi.org/10.13109/tode.2024.21.1.57
Guriev, Sergei, and Daniel Treisman. 2019. “Informational Autocrats.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 33 (4): 100–127. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.33.4.100
Khamitov, Nazip. 2023. The War in Ukraine and the New Humanism: David versus Goliath. Meta-Anthropology of the History of the 21st Century. Sofia: Kibea Publishing.
Lebedev, D. 2025. “Propaganda Networks, Media Imperialism, and the War in Ukraine.” Studies in East European Thought. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-025-09785-z
Lozka, Katsiaryna. 2026. “The Creation of Death-Worlds: Visual Necropolitics and Russia’s War on Ukraine.” Nationalities Papers: 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1017/nps.2025.10116
Makarychev, Andrey, and Sergei Medvedev. 2024. Biopower in Putin’s Russia: From Taking Care to Taking Lives. Budapest and New York: Central European University Press.
Merkel, Wolfgang. 2023. “Putins Reich.” WZB-Mitteilungen: Quartalsheft für Sozialforschung 179: 45–48.
Nadskakuła-Kaczmarczyk, O. 2025. “The Power of Russian Propaganda: Identity-Related and Authoritarian-System Correlated Factors.” Polish Political Science Yearbook, 54 (3): 75–88. https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy202533
Robra, Klaus. 2025. Warum hört der seit 2022 in der Ukraine tobende Krieg nicht auf? Munich: GRIN Verlag. https://www.grin.com/document/1599880
Tyczko, Krzysztof. 2023. “‘A co to jest Rosja – teraz już nie wiem’. Ewolucja światoodczucia w ‘Crime’ Asi Wołoszyny wobec innych jej sztuk.” Rusycystyczne Studia Literaturoznawcze 33: 1–39. https://doi.org/10.31261/RSL.2023.33.02
Tyczko, Krzysztof. 2025. “Motyw śmierci Putina w sztuce uczestniczki tzw. putinowskiego exodusu Esther Bol ‘Otrod’e [ili] smert’ Putina’.” Rusycystyczne Studia Literaturoznawcze 35: 1–23. https://doi.org/10.31261/RSL.2025.35.05
Volkovskyi, Volodymyr, and Roman Samchuk. 2024. “Filosofie po Buči: současné diskuse v kontextu ukrajinské filosofie.” Filosofický časopis 72 (2): 315–327. https://doi.org/10.46854/fc.2024.2r.315
Worschech, Susann. 2025. “Freiheitsschauplatz? – Eine Einleitung.” In Ein Gesellschaftsportrait der Ukraine, 11–30. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH and Co. KG. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748937128-11
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The scientific journal adheres to the principles of Open Access and provides free, immediate, and permanent access to all published materials without financial, technical, or legal barriers for readers.
All articles are published in Open Access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Copyright
Authors who publish their works in the journal:
-
retain the copyright to their publications;
-
grant the journal the right of first publication of the article;
-
agree to the distribution of their materials under the CC BY 4.0 license;
-
have the right to reuse, archive, and distribute their works (including in institutional and subject repositories), provided that proper reference is made to the original publication in the journal.
