Belarus as a liminal space for Russia’s ontological security before and after the 2020 protests

Abstract

The article uses the ontological security framework and the concept of liminality to analyze Belarus liminal status vis-a-vis Russia and the role it has played in Russia’s ontological security seeking before and after the 2020 Belarus Awakening. It argues that while the entire near-abroad, and, in particular, Ukraine have been important in terms of Russia’s post-imperial ontological security seeking strategies, Belarus occupies a unique position with respect to Russia’s securitized identity because of its perfectly marginal or liminal status. This has to do with the fact that, in the Russian geopolitical gaze, Belarus has remained almost unseparated from the Russian Self. Furthermore, the 2020 protests challenged this status but did not entirely eliminate it, leading to a restructuration of Belarus’ liminality.

Flowers, Tractors, & Telegram: Who are the Protesters in Belarus?: A Survey Based Assessment of Anti-Lukashenka Protest Participants

“…Although there is weak evidence that language and ethnicity are important dividing factors in Belarusian political behavior and public opinion (Burant 1995; Marples 1999; McAllister and White 2015), we note that scholars have highlighted a national awakening in the last two decades (Brown 2005; Goujon 1999; Kittel et al 2010; Marples 1999; Woolhiser 2014). While most analysts have portrayed the events of 2020 as a civic moment, some have even written about an ethno-linguistic awakening (Bekus 2021; Bobrovska 2020; Guetta 2021; Kazharski 2021b, 2021a; Kazharski and Kubová 2021; Kolarz and Lozka 2020; Kulakevich 2020; Maxwell 2020; Murashcenkova et al 2022; Petrova and Korosteleva 2021). Similarly, our interlocutors also reported to us that they were switching to speaking Belarusian and that some people who previously identified as Russian were coming to call themselves Belarusian first and foremost.…”

“…The formulation of a master narrative requires access to information resources (Garrett 2006; S. A. Greene 2022; Jost et al 2018; Onuch, Mateo, and Waller 2020; Tufekci and Wilson 2012) – and thus, it is expected that protesters will distinguish themselves from non-protesters in their media consumption patterns (Aday et al 2013; Bodrunova 2021; Couldry, Livingstone, and Markham 2016; S. A. Greene 2022; Kazharski and Kubová 2021). In Belarus, observers have made reference to the protesters’ use of particular social media platforms like Telegram and non-state media channels like Nexta and Belsat (S. A. Greene 2022; Herasimenka et al 2020; Wijermars and Lokot 2022).…”

The Dynamics of Mass Mobilization in Belarus

“…The events caught many observers by surprise and challenged some of the assumptions in the comparative literature on protests. The prolonged nature of the demonstrations, their all-country nature, the potential role of social media and messenger services, the informal organizational structure behind the mobilization, collective identities, the dynamics of regime repression, and the events’ aftermath are among the features that social scientists have begun to explore (Basik 2022; Bedford 2021; Bekus 2021; Bodrunova 2021; De Vogel 2022; Gapova 2021; Greene 2022; Kazharski 2021; Kazharski and Kubová 2021; Kulakevich 2020; Leukavets 2022; Maliauskaya 2022; Mateo 2022; Moshes and Nizhnikau 2021; Murashcenkova et al 2022; O’Loughlin and Toal 2022; Onuch and Sasse 2022b, 2022a; Pendse 2022; Petrova and Korosteleva 2021; G. Robertson 2022; Sierakowski 2020; Weller 2022; and Wijermars and Lokot 2022).…”

Transiting From the East to the ‘Core’ West of Europe: Slovakia’s Ontological Liminality After the Outbreak of 2022 Russia’s War on Ukraine

“…There are various types and modalities of liminality that capture spatial and temporal transitions and transformations of political subjects that have been widely used and applied to different contexts by IR theorists studying the change of political identities (Rumelili, 2012; Stoicescu, 2012; Mälksoo, 2012; Neumann, 2012; Szakolczai, 2017; Loh & Heiskanen, 2020; Kazharski & Kubová, 2021). Building on these theoretical uses of liminality in IR mostly rooted in the constructivist and post-structuralist research paradigm, in this contribution, I make the case of using the concept of ontological liminality as both interpretative and explanatory tool for discursive practices that are activated during the actual liminal experience of collective actors who challenge their in-between positioning and seek to reposition themselves discursively.…”