Procreate for The State

School of Social and Political Sciences


Procreate for The State: A Look at the Use of Gender
Politics to Legitimate Russia’s Authoritarian Regime

September 2020

Grade B2


Presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for
the Degree of M.Sc in International Relations


Word Count: 14,374

,Procreate for The State: A Look at the Use of Gender Politics to
Legitimate Russia’s Authoritarian Regime



Table of Contents:

i. Acknowledgements ................................................................................3
ii. Abstract ..................................................................................................4
iii. Introduction ............................................................................................5
iv. Review of the Literature ......................................................................10
a. Gendered Politics ...........................................................................10
b. Authoritarian Legitimation ............................................................18
v. Pronatalism in Russia ...........................................................................23
vi. Methods................................................................................................29
vii. Data Analysis .......................................................................................38
c. Ideological Legitimation ................................................................39
d. Performance Legitimation .............................................................45
viii. Conclusion ...........................................................................................54
ix. Bibliography ........................................................................................60




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, Acknowledgements

I would like to express my great appreciation to Dr. Jenny Morrison, my
dissertation supervisor, who provided me valuable and constructive suggestions
and general guidance during the planning and development of this dissertation.


Additionally, I would also like to thank the Russian, feminist, protest, punk rock
group, Pussy Riot, who’s music first introduced me to the issues of gender politics
in Russia.


Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends, specifically my mother
Padgett, my Granny, my aunt Ashlee, my cousin Sadie, and my dear friend Jules,
who have supported and encouraged my studies wherever they have taken me.




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, Abstract

This paper examines how an authoritarian regime may use gender politics

to pursue legitimation. It is centered around a case study of Russia that thematically

analyzes of three different types of speeches given by Putin: International Women’s

Day Address, End of the Year News Conference, and the Presidential Address to

the Federal Assembly. Throughout the paper the argument is that Russia uses

gender politics to pursue ideological and performance legitimation by influencing

the gendered nationalist ideology that and by implementing the pronatalist

maternity capital program. Using a thematic analysis of the three types of speeches,

I show how Russia’s authoritarian regime uses gender politics to ideologically and

performatively legitimate itself. Ultimately, Russia’s authoritarian regime uses

gender politics to legitimate itself by promoting the patriarchal, gendered

nationalist ideology that exists within Russia and by creating and promoting the

pronatalist maternity capital program that has been put in place to aid the

demographic decline.




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