Spouses of Russian Governors and Their Self-Representation Strategies: Celebrities or Housewives?

Abstract

The paper provides theoretical grounds for applying an interdisciplinary approach to the study of representatives of Russian regional elites as celebrities. Empirically, the study builds on the database listing spouses of the Russian governors for 2020 (N=96) provided by the Minchenko Consulting. To enrich the data, the authors use a qualitative analysis of the self-representation strategies of the Russian politicians’ spouses in traditional and social media. An assessment of publicity levels showed that many spouses of Russian governors rather abandon any strategy, preferring to remain housewives. The behaviour of the spouse can take the form of personal or joint publicity, while empirically identified self-representation strategies have significant differences. Comparative analysis allowed to categorize the self-representation strategies of the spouses of the Russian governors into five types. The study partially confirmed the hypotheses about the presence of social markers associated with a high level of publicity and certain strategies of self-representation.