The Role of Demythologization in the Development of the BRICS Political Field
( Pp. 113-119)

The article is devoted to the urgent problem of getting rid of entrenched political myths that hinder the rapprochement of the peoples and countries of BRICS. A distinction is made between natural and artificial myths; debunking the former allows us to reveal new aspects of ethnic myths rooted in the mentality of traditional peoples, and demythologization of artificial political “pseudo-myths” as the results of clever political technologies frees, for example, the peoples of Africa from imposed Western ideologies that are far from solving pressing problems. It is extremely important to mythologize the indigenous political and mythological concepts of Western political science, for example, the concept of democracy, which becomes a genuine instrument of political struggle, a means of “debunking” any political regime that is objectionable to the West. It is shown that already in the twentieth century there was a rejection of the established mythologeme about ideal democracy, even within the framework of Western thinking. The article examines modern approaches to the interpretation of democracy in Russian political science, free from mythological overtones and rethinking it in various forms (for example, authoritarian, deliberative, state, socio-political). It also examines the need to debunk the main myth of the West, as presented by the famous political scientist S. Huntington, that Western civilization is the most developed and is forced to confront the whole world, taking a leading position in the inevitable “clash of civilizations”. Also, one of the fundamental myths of the Western world is clearly collapsing – about freedom as one of the main human rights. The problems of demythologization must be recognized by all participants of BRICS, a historically new political association, which is largely built on the basis of trust, consolidation of forces and mutual consideration of all national and state interests.

Kravchenko V.V., Vasetsky N.A., Shevtsov V.M. The Role of Demythologization in the Development of the BRICS Political Field. Sociopolitical Sciences. 2024. Vol. 14. No. 5. Pр. 113–119. (In Rus.). DOI: 10.33693/2223-0092-2024-14-5-113-119. EDN: RXACZN

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demythologization, natural myth, artificial myth, “pseudo-myth”, Western hegemony, democracy, freedom.