The fragility of the modern unstable world has created both theoretical and methodological crises, and opened up opportunities for discursive and political-pragmatic transcending the boundaries of linear normative constructions of Modernity. The inclusion of the concepts of identity and identity politics paradigm in the interpretation of political reality, and in instrumental practice appropriate strategies and technologies that lead to improving the performance of scientific research, and at the same time - to the aggravation of the uncertainty and destructive due to the use of political practices, guided around them. The subject field of these concepts is diversified and fragmented, reflecting the multiplicity of referents and generating conceptual and political-instrumental competition. The aim of the research is to trace the theoretical response to changing reality, which is poorly described by the traditional institutional paradigm of political science and requires the incorporation of socio-cultural meanings, which then becomes a catalyst and legitimizing basis for certain political practices. The authors address the conceptual positions of the theories of protest identity (M. Castells) resentiment (F. Fukuyama), pseudo-politics (M. Lilla), politics of life (A. Giddens), tribes and new tribalism (M. Maffesoli) and retrotopia (Z. Bauman).

The article discusses the conceptual ways of interaction of cognitive structures reflecting the diverse forms of co-presence of the phenomena of language, identity and politics in their peculiar combinatorics - variants of compatibility in both ontological and epistemological senses. The types of conjugation of linguistic functioning (communicative practices and situations, individual and group behavior) with relations about identity and with political dimensions that arise on this basis, form a complex with a multilateral turnover of roles. Analytical reflections in this area, understandably, also form a fragmented and even polarized picture. On one flank, such conjugation is interpreted in the spirit of isomorphism (in the logic of mutual substitution and unambiguous mapping), in the form of a synthesis, which is based on a certain general ascriptive nature, or essentialist principles of understanding. Identity is set even before identification is attempted, and language is present as an attribute, that is, inseparable. The diametrical position lies in the divergence of language and identity, since the abstract vision of “language” as a system does not at all presuppose a conscious unity of the participants in communication and the carriers of verbal behavior. In the “middle” zone, there is a wide range of judgments regarding the fact that language and identity can interact at the level of modi (but not attributes). Linguistic subjectivity reflects both the motivation for mutual understanding (communicative function) and the need for identification. This leads to logical consequences - languages and identity touch in the plane of the symbolic, and political influence can occur both in terms of traditionally understood language policy, and language politics. The article is distinguished by significantly less institutionalization, the absence of “hard” formal procedural grounds and decisions. Semantic properties in this case suggest a much wider agent composition, and multilevel structures (macro-, meso- and microscales). The expediency of analytical development of this type of politics is associated with the possibility of flexible response to the correlation of language and politics in their situational dynamics, including at the “grassroots” level.

In the modern world, religious identity continues to be one of the most important markers of a person's place in society. However, it is no longer just a mandatory prescribed identity, but actively transgresses under the influence of numerous problems of the modern world. By transgression of religious identity, the authors of the article understand its transformation, both in the direction of changing the level of religiosity as the confessional affiliation. This transgression is associated with a number of social factors - globalization, constant migration processes, value changes, and active spiritual search. With the advent of virtual space and virtual identity, there is another vector of transgression - towards the virtualization of religiosity. The main purpose of this article is to identify and systematize the main problems, related to the influence of virtual religious space on the transgression of religious identity in the real world and the formation of a new type - virtual religious identity. The main method is complex analysis. The article shows that problems with virtual religious identity begin at the categorical level, since they reflect the diversity of vectors of transgressive processes. In modern society, the transgression of religious identity is becoming a frequent phenomenon and variable, since a modern person can change both their religious affiliation and the nature of their religiosity several times during their life. But only virtual space offers unlimited possibilities-from the creation of new religious virtual associations to the appearance of many new fantasy religious identities. The main problem of further development of virtual identity will be the transformation of the level of sacredness, which will either lead to further secularization of the virtual religious space - or to the search for new forms of virtual sacredness.

The article analyzes the state of research of the state policy of identity in Russian political science as one of the most significant in the theoretical and political-practical terms of the topics of interdisciplinary body of knowledge about identity. The author shows two stages in the development of this issue in Russian political science, brings evidence of the institutionalization of this area of research. The article provides an overview of the scientific landscape of Russian research on the problem of state policy of identity, uncovers the strengths and weaknesses, as well as the stages of the formation of this topic, and determines the most significant discrepancies in the views of Russian researchers. Special attention has been given to the problem of the relationship between civil and national-state identity as a result of the implementation of the state policy of identity, the change in the role of traditional social and political institutions in this process. The problems of reducing the role of traditional and political institutions in the process of forming the political attitudes of citizens are stressed. The paper cites selected excerpts from expert interviews to confirm the differences in the views of scientists. The author focuses on the systemic problems of the development of modern Russian political science, which limit the possibilities of development of its individual directions. Among them there are unjustified subjective feelings of the seconddary nature of research and theoretical attitudes of Russian scientists, unfounded popularization of certain topics, “fashion” for specific scientific approaches, the development of citation practices on the “regional” principle. In addition, the results of the developments of scientists are in demand in real politics, which can also have its side negative effects, for example, in the form of the development of ideas about the fundamental possibility of forming a unified national-state identity with given parameters in large social groups and political communities.

The article summarizes the main results of a recent discussion on the relationship between national identities and national variants of the politics of memory in relation to global historical events of the 20 th century. This discussion took place from April 1 to June 30, 2020 as part of the annual Internet conference of the Altai School of Political Studies. The introduction to the article provides a brief overview of the main directions of already existing research on this topic in Russian and foreign literature. The content of the 30 reports submitted to the Internet conference is characterized, in which the comprehension of events that have left a deep imprint on the public consciousness (world wars, revolutions, the collapse of empires and multinational states, processes of decolonization, Cold War, etc.) is considered. For a specific analysis, the reports are selected that are closest to the chosen topic. They are divided into three semantic blocks: 1) Identities and comprehension of the past in the context of a pandemic; 2) Postcolonial identities and working through the past; 3) The trauma of genocide: the identities of “perpetrators” and “victims”. The analysis shows that the comprehension and historical assimilation of a number of events is still far from complete. In many countries, the "politics of memory" in relation to the most important historical events and symbols is used in the construction of national identities, in the legitimization of the most important steps in domestic and foreign policy. On the other hand, the formed national identity can significantly influence the memory policy pursued in the country. Therefore, further comparative study of the variants of “memory politics” used in the world, associated with the formation of identities, is an urgent scientific task.

The article explores how the EU populist radical right in opposition to its national governments uses the concept of rights and freedoms when constructing identities. The research is based on a discourse analysis of speeches given by the leader of the French Rassemblement National Marine Le Pen in the run-up to the 2019 European parliamentary elections. The analysis of discursive strategies employed in these texts allows to empirically demonstrate and elaborate some of the existing theories on key ideological and discursive features of the populist radical right and its positions on rights and freedoms. It also shows, however, that these models need to be reviewed or altered in a number of aspects. The research corresponds to the existing models as it shows the opposition the Self vs. the Other to be one of the central elements in the populist radical right discourse. For instance, when speaking about rights and freedoms, Marine Le Pen constructs the identity of the French people and European peoples by opposing them to the negative Other along two axes: vertically - by constructing a populist opposition to the elites - and horizontally - by constructing a nativist opposition to alien identities. The people is predicated to possess various rights, the Rassemblement National is represented as the defender of these rights, while the elites and the aliens are depicted as a threat to these rights. Yet, these oppositions are not always clearly articulated with numerous ‘grey zones’ systematically constructed: the research demonstrates that the depiction of some actors in a positive or negative way depends on context. The European identity constructed by the populist radical right is also ambivalent: it is not completely rejected although the ongoing European integration project - the EU - is reproached for infringing rights and freedoms. In general, the analysis allows to conclude that the populist radical right in the EU should be regarded as an active contester in the ongoing interpretive struggle over the concept of rights and freedoms rather than its enemy.

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union focused the issue of cleavage of British statehood by European criteria. According to the results of sociological surveys and polls, the distribution of preferences of Brexit is correlated with the national identification matrix. Most Scots and Irish of United Kingdom support remaining the membership in the European Union, while the most English defend soft or hard Brexit. However, the depth of such cleavage underlines the uncertainty in the preferences of citizens who identify as British in general. In the context of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, the question of the European identity of Scots was also underlines by Scotland's regional political actors. This article is aimed to the analysis of the dynamics of the European identity of the Scottish community in 2016-2020 under Brexit conditions. The author concludes that the share of Scots with European identities increased after 2016, and Brexit was a key factor in the dynamics. At the same time, the actualization of European identity among the Scottish community is connected with the pragmatic strategy of the Scottish community and regional political actors to neutralize the negative economic and social effects of Brexit and plays an instrumental role in the national and European political arenas. The article starts with an excursion to the issues of national identity in the modern United Kingdom in the studies of Western and Russian authors. Then, based on an analysis of sociological data, the question of the European identity of Scots was raised, as well as the role of the national identity of United Kingdom citizens in the issue of membership in the European Union. At the end of the article, author proposes the description of the position and strategy of the Scottish community on the issue of Brexit.

The article attempts to identify the correlation between the state of interethnic accord in the region and the conceptual foundations of the identity policy on the example of such a multinational region of the Russian Federation with increased migration attractiveness as Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - Ugra. Bringing out the two main types of identities - ethnopolitical and macropolitical - the authors draw attention to the fact that in the justification of each type stand the interests of groups in real policy and the scientific tradition as well. Appealing to this or that concept is defined both by the conservatism of these traditions and by political circumstances. The definition of interethnic harmony is proposed in the article. The empirical basis of the research are the results of sociological surveys conducted under the leadership of the authors in 2018-2019, secondary analysis of the results of sociological research conducted in 2014-2015 in the region, as well as data from official statistics. The method of cluster analysis of data obtained from the sociological survey on the territories of municipal entities of the autonomous okrug was applied. The results of the sociological surveys make it possible to establish a correlation between the respondents' assessment of the state of interethnic relations and the activities of political actors in the sphere of identity policy. The cross-temporal comparison of identity policy conducted in the region in the 2010 s, showed that, the policy based on national-state (macropolitical) identity to ensure interethnic accord was more effective. The Russian regions are multiethnic in composition. Therefore, the study of the conceptual foundations of the formation of interethnic accord by means of identity policy on the example of such a multiethnic region with high migration attractivness, as Ugra, is relevant.

The article analyzes the discourse of regional identity in the course of Federal symbolic competitions, which are understood as events related to the organization of competition projects for the selection of significant symbolic attributes for regional communities. The research focuses on five projects: Seven wonders of Russia (2007), Russia 10 (2013), Alley of Russia (2014), people's banknote (2016), Great names of Russia (2018). Based on indicators of regional activity (counting participation and intensity of campaigns to promote regional symbols), a group of regions is identified for which the competition tool is interpreted as a significant resource in broadcasting regional uniqueness. The main forms of expression of regional identity discourse in the nomination and promotion of nominations for winning competitions are determined. Possible identity conflicts in the course of competitions are analyzed. Based on expert interviews conducted in Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk and Vladivostok in 2019, a matrix of motivations and arguments is constructed in the model of the regionalist discourse of Federal symbolic competitions. It is shown that the use of various types of metaphorical constructions in the regionalist discourse of the specificity of the region, its symbols and heroes, and the ambitions of the territory allows the region to broadcast its subjectivity.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the discourse of the Russian oppositionist Alexei Navalny. The purpose of the study is to understand how one of the leaders of the Russian non-parliamentary opposition uses narratives about the Soviet past. The analysis shows that the arsenal of such narratives in Navalny's discourse is quite broad and includes references to events, actors, and realia from all main periods of the Soviet history. The whole variety of ways of using the narratives about the Soviet past in Navalny's discourse can be generalized to four typical discursive templates: (1) “analogy with the Soviet”, (2) “inheriting the Soviet”, (3) “stealing the Soviet”, (4) “(mis)commemorating the Soviet”. The “analogy with the Soviet” and “inheriting the Soviet” templates are used by Navalny in his strategies of negative representation of certain contemporary Russian political events, actors, institutions, and practices (in particular the ones having to do with political repressions and state propaganda). The application of the “stealing the Soviet” template is almost entirely limited to the texts that negatively represent Russian “oligarchs”. The “(mis)commemorating the Soviet” template is applied in the texts that promote (or condemn) certain commemorative practices. In general, in his discourse Navalny often effectively applies the discursive strategies that allow him to use the narratives about the Soviet past, but, at the same time, he is rarely seeks to actively construct such narratives himself.

The article explores the concept of “Kazakh Islam” in the socio-political rhetoric of modern Kazakhstan. The change in the state’s policy regarding Islam, which is gradually acquiring new meanings in the changing contexts of national construction is noticed. Four strategies for the construction of “Kazakh Islam” are identified and analyzed: state, political, theological, scientific-journalistic, each of which has its own language and logic of argumentation. The state strategy is focused on the elimination of religious topics from public discourse. The political one is actualized during the election period and serves as the basis for discussion of Kazakh identity. The theological one is focused on including a new concept in a wide ideological Islamic context. The scientific-journalistic one seeks to fill the traditional form of Kazakh Islam with modernization meanings. The separation of religious and secular areas in the daily, routine activities of the state and the church is fully consistent with the concept of secularization. But everything changes when it comes to the most generalized political categories, especially the nation. In the space of nationalism, secularization is losing its power, giving rise to semantic constructions that look absurd, both from the standpoint of religion and from the point of view of the state. The described definitions of “Kazakh Islam” show that it is impossible to consider religious and secular ideology as competitors pursuing diametrically opposite goals within the framework of national building practices. The ideology of “Kazakh Islam” cannot be strictly fixed, since in this way it would lose all of its consolidating potential. As a result, we are dealing with a set of contradictory rhetoric, which is united by the legitimizing force of “nation” and “god”. The organic complementarity and interchangeability of these concepts reveals the complex and dynamic connection of religion and nationalism in promoting and legitimizing the meaning of the existence of the Kazakh state.

This article discusses a phenomenon that is gaining popularity - a description of political events in the Russian Far East in the language of tribalism. The study is based on critical discourse analysis, which makes it possible to compare many texts mentioning tribalism in one form or another with the discursive and social practices in the region. The study offers a typology of tribalist political discourses, and also examines in detail one of the options common in national republics. The analysis shows that tribalism in the description of politics has little in common with real political groups; it is rather used as a tool to describe political events and explain them in a way convenient for the author. It is closely related to tradition and rooting (autochthonism). This allows us to discuss the identities of political actors and make judgments about the legitimacy of their actions.

Ethnic conflict management includes a set of institutional and non-institutional features for preventing and resolving ethnic conflicts. Among the large number of measures of national states and other political actors, one can especially figure out - the optimal organization of government system, which can calm ethnically colored conflicts, up to violence, armed warfare and civil wars. This article discusses the problem of the relationship between forms of government, on the one hand, and ethnic conflicts, on the other. That causation received small attention in political science. The authors answer the question of which form of government - presidential or parliamentary - creates risks of ethnic conflict. The purpose of the article is to identify institutional elements that pose a threat to ethnic peace and harmony, as well as show the positive features of presidentialism and parliamentarism that to calm ethnic conflicts. The authors chose neoinstitutionalism as the main methodological approach, which determines the central place of political institutions in explaining the nature of ethnic conflicts. The authors' conclusions are based on a comparative analysis of the theoretical and empirical results of studies of ethnic conflicts. The authors conclude that the presidential system creates more favorable conditions for calming ethnic conflicts that the parliamentary system do. In order to “smooth out” the negative consequences of the presidential and parliamentary systems, national governments conduct institutional “experiments” to modernize classical institutional models. The article discusses atypical systems and atypical elements of systems that help solve problems inherent in a “pure” presidential and “pure” parliamentary system. The article also assesses empirical studies that providing research on causation between government and ethnic conflicts.

The mechanism of causality between the breakdown of political regime and the disintegration of a state is an important topic in political science. The dissolution of the Soviet Union is a typical example. The aim of perestroika was the transformation of the political regime by renewing the top elite and inclusion of mass groups in the system of government. The initiators of the reform planned to achieve their goals through the general reconstruction of relations between the CPSU and the Soviet state, the redistribution of power from the party elite to the Soviet one concentrated in the Councils of People’s Deputies at various levels. In practice, the implementation of two reforms at once (distancing the party from the authorities and optimizing governance) led to the split of the entire political elite. The struggle of opposing elite groups for dominance led to the paralysis of state power, the loss of control over what was happening in the country. As a result, the interests of elite groups began to prevail over the national interests and ultimately led to the destruction of the state. Thus the authorsubstantiates the thesis that the destabilization of a regime as a result of the inter-elite struggle leads to the destruction of a state. The problem of elite renewal and consolidation and the transfer powers from the party elite to the state one becomes important.