In 2012-2013, Russia’s internal political discourse was dominated by a single theme: a ‘return to traditional family values.’ In the space of a few years, a series of ideological shifts took shape as Vladimir Putin made his return to the presidency. Today, one of those values deemed in need of reinstallation and fierce protection is the institution of marriage between a man and a woman, which is being presented as necessary for the protection of children.
According to Russia’s leading ideologues, the traditional family – the foundation of the Russian state – is threatened by discourses imported from the West – feminism, LGBT liberation – which herald the destruction of public morality and marriage.
However, the events that began unfolding in Ukraine at the end of 2013 also caused the political landscape to shift. EuroMaidan and Crimea were not just geopolitical events, they caused a surge in patriotic feeling in many sections of Russian society and, fuelled by Russian state media, helped establish a new Russian enemy – Ukraine and its Western backers.
