Description
This paper will introduce and employ a new analytical tool that draws from dystopian thought and the dystopian tradition to explore the connections that may be found between President Putin’s propaganda regarding the Ukraine war, Hannah Arendt’s conception of ‘perpetual-motion mania’, and the Orwellian tactics employed by Nineteen Eighty-Four’s totalitarian regime. These links between Arendt’s theory, Putin’s words, and the Party’s actions will be simultaneously observed, drawing focus to the dystopian reality that envelopes the Russian president. The main objective of this paper is to present how the dystopian tradition, paired with political theory, can be used to interpret, analyse, and explore contemporary political and social phenomena. Thus, this paper will first introduce the analytical tool, Critical Dystopianism, which emerged from my PhD thesis. The centrality of power, drawing form both Foucauldian and Gramscian conceptions, will be emphasised, followed by a brief exploration of further dystopian themes (technology, ecology, hope, etc). Following, I will employ Critical Dystopianism to conduct the analysis, drawing from Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism, Orwell’s dystopia, and Putin’s speeches given in the early days of the ‘special military operation’. By utilising this dystopian tool of analysis, I argue that we can assess and critique the Russian propaganda from a different perspective, utilising the dystopian tradition.
