Cultural Mobilization During the Special Military Operation: How “New” Ethics Changes “Old” Habits.

Introduction. In Russia, after the start of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine, large-scale transformations accelerated, affecting all spheres of activity, including cultural consumption practices. A number of people in the creative professions publicly supported or, on the contrary, condemned what was happening, which influenced their perception by government officials and fellow citizens. However, attitudes towards authors and performers are closely related to attitudes towards the objects of cultural consumption they produce. This study was undertaken in order to find out how people’s cultural preferences change (and whether they change) (at the level of a single region) during the period of the Special Military Operation. Materials and Methods. The research was conducted from September to November 2024 in the Republic of Mordovia by the method of questionnaire survey, implemented on the “Yandex. Forms” platform. A total of 370 residents of the region from more than 80 settlements were interviewed. The quota sample represents the population by gender, age and place of residence. The research is of an exploratory nature. Results. In the context of the Special Military Operation, the majority of respondents maintained their cultural preferences; every fourth stated that they had changed them. Less stable cultural consumption practices are characteristic of older people, pensioners with low incomes; more stable ones are characteristic of young people living in the capital of the region, as well as of people with a high level of education and income. Three clusters have been identified, allowing participants to be classified according to their attitude toward the current situation in the sphere of cultural consumption: liberal, conformist, and conservative. The liberal cluster unites those who oppose censorship and excessive state control. The conservative cluster includes supporters of reasonable restrictions on freedom of speech, the need to support figures demonstrating patriotic beliefs, and to cancel those who are recognized as foreign agents. The conformist cluster was made up of respondents with the least stable habits of cultural consumption, oriented towards those narratives that are associated with the preservation and reproduction of traditional values and promoted by the state. Discussion and Conclusion. Cultural consumption correlates with the level of economic and cultural institutionalized capital. Changes in cultural consumption under conditions of tension occur mainly on the basis of coincidence or inconsistency of political beliefs of the consumer and the producer of the cultural product. The most significant factor affecting cultural consumption in the context of the Special Military Operation is the official information agenda broadcast by the state. The obtained results may be useful for managers responsible for the formation and implementation of cultural policy.