Nationalism is a concept for political ideology, which is characterized by the following features:
1) is based on the propaganda of national exclusivity and national superiority;
2) recognizes the priority of the national idea in the political life of the society;
Nationalism can be expressed in terms of incitement of national hatred and confrontation between peoples of different countries, as well as between representatives of different nations and ethnicities within one country. International law classifies the ideology of nationalism as a political crime of human rights violations.
Nationalism can manifest itself in many different forms. Thus, chauvinism is an attempt of intellectual or political restriction of national minorities by the main nationality of the country. Racism is aimed at restricting the nationalities of other masses.
Nationalism manifests itself in historical relations, cultural, economic, political and religious differences.
The "classical" and "postclassical" models of nationalism are distinguished. For the classical one, the dependence of political practice on ideological values and the hierarchy in the formulation and implementation of ideological goals are characteristic. Ideological and value components of postclassical nationalism are equivalent to pragmatic attitudes, when national values are used to achieve the desired result.
In Russia the classical model of nationalism is presented by ethnic, patriarchal and power nationalism. Ethnic nationalism is based on the idea of "blood" kinship and innate national idea (Barkashev's RNU, national-republicans Lysenko). Patriarchal nationalism, which resembles a nation of "big family", refers to the communal traditions of the Russian village (Rasputin, Belov, Shafarevich). State nationalism (Sterligov's RNS) preaches the idea of the power as a non-alternative type of Russian statehood; it uses the slogan of commitment of the Russian people to the Orthodox traditions, social justice and "the spirit of sovereignty of the nation".
The postclassical model is represented by national populism and pragmatic nationalism. National populism is based on the lumpenized layers of Russian society. (V. Zhirinovsky); in pragmatic nationalism, there is a tendency for an open dialogue with representatives of other ideological and political trends (Luzhkov, Swan).
In general, Russian nationalism is fragmented ideologically and in an organized manner. The constant rivalry of various nationalist groups does not contribute to the expansion of the ideological influence of nationalism.
Russian nationalism has a number of specific features that distinguish it from European nationalism: the search for an alliance with the state, anti-democratic nature
In general, the situation in the South is typical of the all-Russian situation. But it is necessary to pay attention to a number of specific features that distinguish the Southern Federal District from other subjects of the Russian Federation. The geopolitical position of Southern Russia is that it is part of the so-called "metaregion of instability", stretching from the Balkans to the Pamirs, and represents a zone of clash of civilizations, generating permanent conflicts. In the South of Russia there are currently such "global" phenomena as the "explosion" of ethnicity and the "burst" of nationalism, accompanied by increasing ethno-political tension, conflict and extremism.
The intensification and mobilization of ethnicity in southern Russia is accompanied by a "burst" of peripheral nationalism, which has been implemented in the region in two projects - ethnic and political. The ethnic project is connected with the growth of ethnic identity and the formation of a specific ethnic picture of the world as the basis of national identity at the level of everyday life. In the North Caucasus, it is the ethnic identity ("we-Ossetians", "we-Ingush", "we-Kumyks", etc.) that is at stake, not the religious identity ("we-Muslims").
The political project of nationalism in the North Caucasus was implemented at the level of political elites and was connected, first of all, with the acquisition of state immunity, accompanied by ethno-political mobilization of the titular ethnic group, appeal to its cultural-historical traditions and actualization of ideas about the ethno-national state as the bearer of these traditions. At the same time, two types of such nationalism are distinguished in the North Caucasus:
- Ethno-priority, oriented towards the creation of an independent state and the dominant role of the titular ethnic group in it (Chechnya);
- defensive, defensive and most clearly embodied in Ingushetia