Legal Nihilism as Social and Discursive Practice: the Case of Belarus

Legal nihilism, according to scientists, politicians, journalists and other public figures, is a very destructive, widely spread phenomenon in contemporary Belarus (Russia, Ukraine and some other countries of the former-USSR) and typical for this territory. Yet there is not much sociological or legal research concerning legal nihilism, despite it being used discursively in many different contexts. In a very general view legal nihilism is about sceptical, indifferent or negative attitudes to law. It is seen as a cause, result and indicator of a low level of legal culture and lack of legal consciousness. In other words, it is about people who do not appear very civilized. This study represents results of quantitative as well as qualitative research on the level of legal nihilism in Belarus and tries to answer the following questions: does legal nihilism really exist at all or is it just a discursive matter? Is it a peculiar feature of Slavic legal culture? Is it a good explanatory model for certain patterns of legal behaviour?