‘I never had a political career’: Russian political actors on politics and morality

This article explores the question of moral discourse among Russian political elites. Morality is reflected in elite narratives in various forms—as an espousal of abstract principles, as a moral–pragmatic hybrid, and as loyalty to one's associates. Proximity to political power correlates with the various versions of moral discourse employed by elite members. Each version, respectively, offers an index of social relations through the prism of morality: in some instances, negatively, as that which prevents the attainment of the good; in others, problematically, as that which makes difficult that attainment; and in a third version, that which contributes to securing the good itself.