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Russian emigrant Scouts and their activities regarding the construction of national identity

ABSTRACT Following the civil war in Russia, many Russian people ended up in exile. Amongst many other challenges, they were faced with the unique threat of losing their national identity. The key defenders of Russianness were the traditional institutions of identity construction. Youth movements also assisted them in this work, through the use of the Scout method of education. This paper hypothesises that Russian Scouts were originally oriented towards constructing an imperial type of nation, which was aimed at expansion. In exile, they would continue to reproduce this brand of Russianness; however, they would change their approach by adding new characters, inspired by the White ideology. Following emigration, under the influence of these symbols, a new identity was created, the ‘White Russian’. The first part of the article describes the context in which Russian Scouts existed. The second part analyses the construction of national identity within Russian Scout organisations.