Why do some Belarusian intellectuals label Belarusian society as archaic and patriarchal at a time when Soviet-style modernization has all but wiped out manifestations of Belarusian cultural heritage? Detached from Belarusian social reality, drawing on nineteenth-century stereotypes of the Slavic character, and idealizing metropolitan western Europe, these intellectuals “orientalize” Belarus, says political scientist Andrei Kazakevich.
