Appealing to Traditional Values in Russia, India and China: a Comparative Analysis

The article examines the reasons and functions of the appeal to traditional values in modern Russia, India and China. Although innovations still play a leading role in tandem with traditions, appeal to traditional values has become an integral part of the official modernization discourse in all three countries. Given the increasing fragmentation of today’s world, these countries employ the traditional values in order to defend ideological sovereignty and resist the expansion of the Western values. In both Russia and China, after the end of the turbulent era of market reforms, the traditional values are invoked to unite the growth and stability. In India, the use of Hindutva’s values by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies contributed to their victories in the 2014, 2019 and 2024 parliamentary elections. In Russia, mass consciousness perceives the traditional values holistically as something own and good and, unlike the academic discourse, does not incline to analyse which kind of traditions, pre-revolutionary, Soviet, or universal this term refers to. In all three countries the appeal to traditional values effectively provides political and electoral support of authorities. Nevertheless, the realities of consumer society significantly limit the influence of traditional values on everyday life and demographic behaviour.