«Negative» identity as a factor of modern state education (on the example of Belarus, Ukraine, DPR and LPR)

Abstract

This article is devoted to the problem of «negative identity» – attempts by the leadership and population of the new state to build their national identity through denial of belonging to the state formation that preceded it in the given territory (or part of it). Since all the new states of our time in one form or another have a previous history of statehood, this problem applies to all developing states without exception. The research is based on a constructivist approach. The main function of «negative identity», according to the author, is to oust the previous self-identification from the consciousness of people. The empirical basis of the study was the history of the formation of the identity of those post-Soviet states that
have the most stable historical and cultural ties with Russia: Belarus, Ukraine and the unrecognized republics of Donbass. The author compares the mechanisms of formation of «negative identity», and also assesses the role that this phenomenon plays in the perspective of state building of these formations. It is
concluded that after the «negative identity» fulfills its role, a transition to «positive identity» is necessary, since opposition through negation cannot ensure the unity of the state.