Description
Building on my previous deconstruction of vertical, masculine and narcissistic politics of loneliness, this paper explores its counterpart and answers the research question: what new structures of overcoming loneliness appeared in ‘lifeworlds’ of anti-war Russians in exile after February 24, 2022? To answer this question, I use method of interpretative phenomenological analysis to study taken by me in-depth interviews and to explore practices of loneliness, solitude and meaning making in lives of anti-war Russians in exile. The scripts of interviews were built around 12 dimensions of ‘lifeworlds’ (a concept originally borrowed from philosopher Edmund Husserl and Alfred Schütz): 1) “Space / home”; 2) “Time”; 3) “Significant others / social conformity / enemies”; 4) “Existential situation of exile and war”; 5) “Nation/Motherland”; 6) “Betrayal”; 7) “Friendship / love / solidarity”; 8) “Authenticity / “Real vs simulacrum”; 9) “Loneliness/Solitude” / 10) “Gender (and toxic masculinity)”; 11) “Personal ‘places of power’”; 12) “Hope, Faith and lifehacks for survival.” The recreation of ‘lifeworlds’ of those who can identify themselves as ‘Global Russians’ or ‘Russian Europeans’ should allow to empirically clarify attachment, rootedness and belongings that facilitate strategies of survival of Russian transnational actors of world politics and mark historical alternative to Russian gendered nationalism. Considering the Foucauldian dilemma between ‘regimes/games of truth’, and its discussion within ‘discursive’ and ‘ontological security’ turns in IR theory, I make argument that research on ‘politics of loneliness’ can shed light on ontological foundations of ‘truth’ and illustrate that on the case of anti-war Russians in exile after 24/02. To make this contribution to IR empirically convincing I use original feminist methodology that combines in depth semi structured interview questioner with visual interpretations (photos collected from the interviewees). I do that to trace how positionalities and ‘regimes’ of loneliness trigger our different ‘realities’ of truth.
