From Radicalism to Conformism: Post-Soviet Ideological Trajectory of Russian Communist Party in 1993–2022

The Communist Party remains one of the leading political powers in the Russian Federation. However, it went through a major ideological evolution in 1993–2022. The article introduces a comprehensive historical analysis of the 30 years of post-Soviet Communist ideology in Russia reflected in the view...

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Main Author: Georgy A. Mayorov
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Kemerovo State University 2025-07-01
Series:СибСкрипт
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Online Access:https://www.sibscript.ru/jour/article/view/5980
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author Georgy A. Mayorov
author_facet Georgy A. Mayorov
author_sort Georgy A. Mayorov
collection DOAJ
description The Communist Party remains one of the leading political powers in the Russian Federation. However, it went through a major ideological evolution in 1993–2022. The article introduces a comprehensive historical analysis of the 30 years of post-Soviet Communist ideology in Russia reflected in the views of Communist leaders on the main doctrinal issues in the changing historical context. The author combined historical-genetic and comparative methods to trace the stages of these ideological changes as a historical sequence, as well as to link them with the political transformations. The comparative method made it possible to see the differences between the ideological and political contexts in the 1990s and 2020s. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation appeared during a deep crisis of Communist ideology. As a result, the party became as a synthetic entity that combined traditional communist values with elements of national patriotic discourse. In the 1990s, it emerged as the leading opposition to Yeltsin’s regime. At the turn of the 1990s–2000s, its ideology shifted from classical Marxism-Leninism to a synthesis of leftist and patriotic ideas, i.e., from internationalism to statehood, from atheism to recognition of traditional religions, etc. In the 2000s, the Communist Party integrated the regime of managed democracy as a systemic opposition. The 2010s–2020s saw a further erosion of the communist identity: as the national-patriotic and conservative tendencies kept increasing, the party abandoned any attempts to change the socio-economic system. Currently, the Communist Party is going through a contradiction between radical rhetoric and conformist practice. Historically, the Communist movement always found it very difficult to adapt to market economy and political pluralism.
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spelling doaj-art-e044ed119a5b4fef9d6114381d748bdb2025-08-20T03:50:00ZdeuKemerovo State UniversityСибСкрипт2949-21222949-20922025-07-0127343344810.21603/sibscript-2025-27-3-433-4484926From Radicalism to Conformism: Post-Soviet Ideological Trajectory of Russian Communist Party in 1993–2022Georgy A. Mayorov0State University of ManagementThe Communist Party remains one of the leading political powers in the Russian Federation. However, it went through a major ideological evolution in 1993–2022. The article introduces a comprehensive historical analysis of the 30 years of post-Soviet Communist ideology in Russia reflected in the views of Communist leaders on the main doctrinal issues in the changing historical context. The author combined historical-genetic and comparative methods to trace the stages of these ideological changes as a historical sequence, as well as to link them with the political transformations. The comparative method made it possible to see the differences between the ideological and political contexts in the 1990s and 2020s. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation appeared during a deep crisis of Communist ideology. As a result, the party became as a synthetic entity that combined traditional communist values with elements of national patriotic discourse. In the 1990s, it emerged as the leading opposition to Yeltsin’s regime. At the turn of the 1990s–2000s, its ideology shifted from classical Marxism-Leninism to a synthesis of leftist and patriotic ideas, i.e., from internationalism to statehood, from atheism to recognition of traditional religions, etc. In the 2000s, the Communist Party integrated the regime of managed democracy as a systemic opposition. The 2010s–2020s saw a further erosion of the communist identity: as the national-patriotic and conservative tendencies kept increasing, the party abandoned any attempts to change the socio-economic system. Currently, the Communist Party is going through a contradiction between radical rhetoric and conformist practice. Historically, the Communist movement always found it very difficult to adapt to market economy and political pluralism.https://www.sibscript.ru/jour/article/view/5980communist partyideological evolutionpolitical oppositionpost-soviet russiasystemic partyleftist movementidentity crisis
spellingShingle Georgy A. Mayorov
From Radicalism to Conformism: Post-Soviet Ideological Trajectory of Russian Communist Party in 1993–2022
СибСкрипт
communist party
ideological evolution
political opposition
post-soviet russia
systemic party
leftist movement
identity crisis
title From Radicalism to Conformism: Post-Soviet Ideological Trajectory of Russian Communist Party in 1993–2022
title_full From Radicalism to Conformism: Post-Soviet Ideological Trajectory of Russian Communist Party in 1993–2022
title_fullStr From Radicalism to Conformism: Post-Soviet Ideological Trajectory of Russian Communist Party in 1993–2022
title_full_unstemmed From Radicalism to Conformism: Post-Soviet Ideological Trajectory of Russian Communist Party in 1993–2022
title_short From Radicalism to Conformism: Post-Soviet Ideological Trajectory of Russian Communist Party in 1993–2022
title_sort from radicalism to conformism post soviet ideological trajectory of russian communist party in 1993 2022
topic communist party
ideological evolution
political opposition
post-soviet russia
systemic party
leftist movement
identity crisis
url https://www.sibscript.ru/jour/article/view/5980
work_keys_str_mv AT georgyamayorov fromradicalismtoconformismpostsovietideologicaltrajectoryofrussiancommunistpartyin19932022