Betting on the wrong ones: why Vladislav Surkov stopped being the main ideologist of the regime

Dmitry Shusharin, political scientist - especially for Novye Izvestia

To understand what is happening in the country and the world over the past twenty years, one book is missing - a collection of articles, interviews and speeches by Vladislav Surkov, distinguished by a rare nomenklatura longevity, usually not typical for apparatchiks who understand and talk a lot about themselves. But, if the stars are lit, it means that someone needs it.

Let me tell you right away: the main principle of these notes is nothing personal. These are just observations of the function called "Vladislav Surkov". For many years now, texts have appeared behind this signature, the common theme of which is Russian identity and the quasi-state structure of Russian life. Many of the top nomenklatura, including people close to the Russian president even before his accession, spoke out on this score. But all their performances were the harbingers of moving to a different hardware level. Viktor Cherkesov tried to become an ideologist. Flaunting in the imperial Andreev ribbon, Vladimir Yakunin glorified Russian civilization. But they are now invisible. Surkov, who changed positions, continues his work, which, unfortunately, is not followed as closely as his track record, which can be found in any reference book. Therefore, I will not talk about it, although, of course, the perception and assessment of his performances are related to his statuses.

One thing should be noted: Vladislav Surkov belongs to the people of the nineties who fit into Putin's nomenclature. Moreover, these are notable people, some of them started their careers during perestroika - Oleg Dobrodeyev, Konstantin Ernst ... Sergey Kirienko is always in the cage. And these are just a few names. Chubais held out for a long time, many oligarchs did not go anywhere. Surkov showed himself in working with deputies, and in building a pseudo-party system, and in holding elections, and in creating pro-Kremlin youth teams that have thundered and are now almost forgotten. He went too far with the youth teams: the question arose of whose guard it was - Putin's or Surkov's. But nothing happened.

Surkov was a poet, novelist, playwright, and patron of the arts. The figure is bright, to be sure, but more characteristic of critical epochs, like the twenties of the last century, rather than the lush Stalinist dullness, to which the Russian society is now oriented. And nevertheless, Surkov is alive and active, and, among other things, he is verbally active, in no way conflicting with the activity of Putin, who has a habit of writing articles on issues of principle. The consistency is clear.

It is about this - public - part of Vladislav Surkov's activities that will be discussed.

And immediately we are faced with an exceptional abundance of texts. Surkov is not only the author of "sovereign democracy", "deep people", "Putinism", "long state", but also a publicist who constantly publishes in the glamorous "Russian Pioneer", proudly calling him his columnist. And licking him with might and main:

"It is difficult, and frankly speaking, it was impossible even to imagine that such a poetic and perfectionist text could emerge from the pen of an administrative worker like this column by Vladislav Surkov."

Cooperation began in 2008 and continues to this day. This means that Surkov has long ago identified his target audience. This is the most advanced, loyalist glamor mass. I call the segment of its consumption in popular culture "boulevard with a pretense." This is, in fact, the whole "Russian Pioneer", such is the work of Vladislav Surkov. But from his fellow writers (Dmitry Bykov, B. Akunin, Vera Polozkova and others) he is distinguished by a high power status, which turns everything he wrote into a fateful message from the higher spheres. And therefore it does not matter at all who writes poetic and perfectionist texts for him, because the main thing is the signature.

Glamorous mass is the highest level of agitprop target audience. He is not interested in the intellectual and cultural elite: they are few in number and have no influence. But the mass cared for by Surkov includes the top management of the media and show business. And when the masses read his guidelines (as it seems to her) articles are no longer in the "Russian Pioneer", then these texts are perceived as written by "one of us." In the same way, as for simpler people, Putin's articles are written by absolutely their own person, for "any of us is a little he." And the content of the texts of both high-profile authors do not differ. And, of course, one should look for the meaning and content of their texts, proceeding from the fact that these are public actions, and not publications designed to increase knowledge and understanding of the country, the world, and oneself. Neither the authors (writers), nor those who put their signatures, nor the consumers of these products - all of them do not need knowledge and understanding, and even more so they do not need reflection. They need confirmation of their status and hope for the future. And the texts signed by Surkov satisfy their needs - in whole or in part, it is not so important.

Actually, this is one big text, be it a sovereign democracy, a long state, a half-blood Russia. And it is designed for the glamorous nouveau riche who have made their careers, for the masses who consider themselves a cultural and intellectual elite, and therefore despise the rest of society - a lot of rogue. This is how Russia is arranged, where there is no civil society, because there is no individual subjectivity, personal autonomy, where everything is built on a thousand-year depersonalization that persists under any rule and under any -ism.

Contempt for the country and the people inhabiting it is the main content of all the texts of Surkov, who never got his own political army. All the "young guards", "ours" and other "locals" turned out to be too ambitious, and the cult of "Uncle Glory", which was sung by young publicists and bloggers, was dangerous for Surkov. At the end of 2011, amid swamp riots, he made a very strange move: at the last moment, he tried to ride a glamorous protest movement. Surkov even uttered the words "irritated urban communities", which, from his point of view, should have a parliamentary representation, its own liberal party. Apparently, he planned to find in this class not only a support, a party, but a certain political (and not only political) capital - for sure. But the time has passed when the ministry of truth, ruled by Surkov, acted without the support of the ministry of love, whose influence has grown incredibly since the swamp times.

And sovereign (aka superstitious and souvenir) democracy, and the long state of Putin, and Putinism, and the deep people - all this is addressed to that, first of all, the metropolitan stratum, which is equally contemptuous of both the absolute majority of the population and the absolute minority. But if the glamorous nouveau riche will never have a dialogue with the crowds of rogue, then, like it or not, you will have to be in contact with the authorities. Moreover, there seems to be a person there who can push in about Miro, write a text for a rock band, and embroider a play. And glamorous weaknesses are not alien. But Surkov is unlikely to succeed in expanding the audience. Actually, he fell into glamor after the loss of ignorant youngsters, who associated with him fantastic hopes for quick advancement. Among them, of course, he was a genius. And sovereign democracy was seriously discussed even by relatively independent candidates. His current works pale in nomenclature before the articles of Putin himself, and serious changes have taken place in the social life of Russia.

Surkov's contempt for the absolute majority of the population, for the Putin majority, for the deep people was shared and is shared not only by the glamorous masses, but also by the intellectuals. Here are the words of Lev Gudkov (Levada Center), spoken by him in the winter of 2021:

“Almost two-thirds of the country's population is the population of small towns and villages, that is, poor, depressive and conservative, oriented towards the mythologized Soviet past, sensitive to the demagogy of state paternalism. It is these categories of the population that constitute the social basis of the Putin regime, are the addressee of its ideology and propaganda. "

But the decisive contribution to Putin's victory in the presidential election was made by cities with a population of over one million. The 2018 vote put an end to all illusions and fantasies, dreams and dreams about a certain "urban middle class", about a "creative class", "irritated urban communities." The 2018 result was fully confirmed by the triumphant 2020 vote on amendments to the former constitution. Again a victory in large cities and a negative result in depressed regions. Putin's support is those whom the fronders considered their political reserve.

The results of the 2018 elections showed that the “deep people”, about which Vladislav Surkov wrote an article a year later, referring to the homespun truth of a primordially Russian person, lives in megacities. This man is for the indefinite rule of Putin, for any of his amendments to the so-called constitution. This man lives in large cities, which were once the mainstay of the foremen of perestroika. The picture is the same as in Germany in the early thirties, with the middle urban strata in favor of Putin and his claims to Russia's greatness and world domination. And you should not equate them with small and medium-sized businesses, with economically independent strata. This is Putin's totalitarian middle class. And one should not consider him a villain or, on the contrary, a bearer of homespun truth. Everything is simpler and worse.

The scheme that Surkov worked out, starting with the collapse of the youth teams, does not work. Everything was simple: referring to the glamorous nouveau riches, he reported, like Stalin to Bukharin: we are with you, Bukharchik, the Himalayas. It is clear that Putin is a cattle, but you have to reckon with this and find your place at court. And Russia ,,. Well, well, Russia is “a western-eastern half-blood country. With her two-headed statehood, hybrid mentality, intercontinental territory, bipolar history, as befits a half-breed, she is charismatic, talented, beautiful and lonely. " Curly, senseless, pointless and, despite all the pathos, arrogant and contemptuous in relation to the masses inhabiting the half-blood country.

And all this ignorant vulgarity is farther and farther from reality, from a new social stratification, from a new organization of power, from a movement towards a mobilization economy, from military threats to peace and from the increasing integration of the ruling elite into the world elite through investments in the Western economy, from attacks on the rights and freedoms of citizens, from growing xenophobia and aggressiveness. It is more and more difficult to discern Surkov's target audience, and the government is becoming stronger, and more reliable is its social support, which does not need all these glamorous beauties. And it is completely incomprehensible who will be allowed by the greedy crowd to stand at the throne. So far, Surkov's audience has counted on this. But closeness to him did not save Kirill Serebrennikov from the sentence. And at the glamorous parties in September-2019 it sounded: "If earlier the established relationship with the ruling elite gave lucrative orders and offers, now it is only a headache from it."

Surkov strove to create a kind of aesthetic design for power. His Ukrainian activities and other areas of apparatus work with parties and movements are not so public and clear. But patronage over the sciences and arts was obvious, but failed, as well as the creation of their own army of Red Guards. I do not think that his ambitious plans have become less ambitious, and his political claims more modest. So far, nothing says that he intends to withdraw from subordination to Putin, but such aspirations are not advertised. And Putinism without Putin, a long state and other sovereign democracy are quite realizable under anyone. But how the deep people and the entire Russian social organism will change is not very clear. Obviously, not in the direction of democracy - we must forget about this. Rather, a much cooler dictatorship than the current political regime will be required. And there is no need to wonder who will fit into the new configuration. Who, like Anastas Mikoyan, will make the way from Ilyich to Ilyich without a heart attack and paralysis, especially since an arbitrarily odious character can turn out to be the new Ilyich. There were enough of them at all times - from Moscow to the very outskirts.