“Ethnicity” and “Politicalness”: Inversion in Modern Mythology of Civil Political Subjectivity

The article is devoted to analysis of one of the reasons why today in the world, including Russia and “Western” states with long-standing liberal traditions, governing elites and civil societies’ critical attitude to institutions, values, and practices of liberal democratic policy is growing. The author explains the grow of such dissatisfaction by inversion of two stereotypical (social and mythological) civil identities and corresponding motivations for political participation. One of the stereotypical notions of democratic politics ideal and optimal mode of citizens’ participation in it is called “politicalness”, while the other – “ethnicity”. Inversion of senses of such mythologemas creates a crisis situation within the space of modern civil societies’ political culture. Followers of “politicalness” of liberal-democratic policy regard excessive orientation on specific “ethnic” values and traditional technologies of citizens’ participation as its key drawback. Those who support “ethnicity” of liberal-democratic policy, on the contrary, are discontented with its focus on vague (universal human) values and disconnection from cultural conditions within which democratic process exists in different parts of the world. In author’s view, the result is spreading of unstable civil identities and distrust in liberal democratic policy.