Concern Over the Future of the Nation - A Discourse Analytical Study on Changes in Russian Demographic Policy in the Years 2000-2010

Abstract

This article discusses statements on demographic policy issued by the Russian state leadership in the years 2000-2010. During the years covered in this study, there has been an increase in publicly expressed concern over the state of the population, i.e. low birth rate in conjunction with high mortality. This concern over population as a research topic is made relevant, first of all, by the acute nature it has as a social political issue. Secondly, it has a variety of connections with other important areas, such as family life, gender, and labor market. The research material consists of annual speeches delivered by Russian state leadership, as well as three official long-range plans, in which discussion concerning the demographic situation is given a central role. Discourse analysis was adopted as the theoretical framework to guide the interpretations because it facilitates observation of the linguistic mechanisms used to define certain phenomena as problems, and to offer other phenomena as solutions to these problems. The analysis revealed three types of discourse, each a part of a broader demographic policy discourse, and each defining Russian demographic policy in its own characteristic way. In the Serious Problem discourse, the demographic phenomenon is taken apart and rationalized, while awareness of an impending crisis is created. The State Support discourse offers solutions to a defined problem and lends legitimacy to state leadership as a successful executor of these solutions. The Family Centered discourse argues for the traditional family model, according to which legal marriage, reproduction and high fertility rate are key values.