In ideological terms, Putin’s regime is neither totalitarian nor fascist. But it is reactionary, and in a way that begs questions about the recent maltreatment of language in Western politics
Russian President Vladimir Putin uses words to mean the opposite of what they really mean.
Sergei Guneyev/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images
Putin often uses words to mean exactly the opposite of what they normally do – a practice diagnosed by political author George Orwell as ‘doublespeak,’ or the language of totalitarians.
People rally against provincial and federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates and in support of Ottawa protestors outside the Manitoba Legislature in Winnipeg on Feb. 4.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” was an instant success when it was first published. His writings on totalitarianism and socialism continue to be relevant today.
Critical decolonisation means accepting risk of error. It means considering whether indigenous knowledge systems might contain truths that western science hasn’t accessed.
Gone but not forgotten: Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s funeral, 2008.
EPA/Yuri Kochetkov