“Seeking Truth and Justice on the Ground of Facts of Historical Significance”: N. P. Petrov’s Struggle for the Restoration of Voting Rights (1929–1931)
https://doi.org/10.25205/2713-1165-2026-1-99-121
Abstract
This paper reconstructs the personal strategy of Nikolai Petrovich Petrov’s struggle to restore his voting rights, which he was deprived of in 1926 due to his pre-revolutionary service in police and penal institutions. Through the case study, the article analyzes the emotional perception of socio-legal discrimination experienced by a “lishenets” (a disenfranchised individual). The research concludes that Petrov not only did not deny his past activities — which served as the basis for his disenfranchisement — but sought to reinterpret them within the context of advocating for the interests of the working people. In an effort to demonstrate loyalty and facilitate the restoration of his rights, Petrov employed political mimicry strategies: he referenced authoritative figures, utilized propaganda terminology, and integrated his biography into the broader narrative of post-revolutionary societal transformation. A significant aspect of Petrov’s argumentation involves appealing to the sentiments of the electoral commission members and critiquing the bureaucratic apparatus.
About the Author
A. A. Kozhaeva
Novosibirsk State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Albina A. Kozhaeva, Assistant of the Section of History, Culture and Arts of the Institute for the Humanities
WoS ResearcherID: JJE7957-2023
Novosibirsk
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Review
For citations:
Kozhaeva A.A. “Seeking Truth and Justice on the Ground of Facts of Historical Significance”: N. P. Petrov’s Struggle for the Restoration of Voting Rights (1929–1931). Universum Humanitarium. 2026;(1):99-121. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25205/2713-1165-2026-1-99-121
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