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Digital publics as Emotional communities in therapeutic culture
The chapter explores how the digital environment – emerging alongside the reception of Western therapeutic culture – is evolving within the Russian cultural and political context. Although psychological support has been increasingly commodified, this culture remains a vital resource for addressing both personal and societal challenges. In contemporary society, traditional social bonds are being increasingly supplanted by participation in digital environments. Here, users become part not only of online communities but also of digital publics organised around specific issues and shared concerns. One notable example is the Russian digital psychological and educational platform Mindfulness School. Its users coalesce around a therapeutic discourse that promotes the value of mindfulness. This discourse encourages individuals to cope with life’s difficulties – primarily through emotional management – and helps foster what may be termed an emotional community. Though not grounded in physical or institutional structures, this form of community nonetheless serves as a foundation for building social ties, communities, and collective identities. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative methods within the framework of digital ethnography, the authors analyse the structure of this emotional community by developing a typology of recurring discursive themes and by identifying the normative models and practices of emotional management promoted within the digital space.
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