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both a source of collective identity and a rhetorical resource in the struggle
for power and domination. Here then, the usage of the category intelligentsia
becomes a means for understanding broader post-Communist cultural change and
some of its underlying tensions and conflicts. The paper examines two competing
discourses about the intelligentsia currently vying for supremacy in Russia and
their associated rival interests: one discourse is affirmative, the other
negative. In relation to each discourse, several discursive practices are
identified and observed on political and academic territories. The analysis of
the discursive struggle over definitions contributes to understanding the
transformation of power relations in modern Russia. Importantly the paper
speculates on the present and future implications of these different
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