Abstract
The rigged 2020 presidential election in Belarus, as well as the disproportionate use of violence byauthorities and multiple reports of tortures 1 of detainees served as a catalyst for the Belarusiansociety. The mass protests that ensued were on a scale unseen since the 1990's.
Mass mobilizationof citizens during Sunday rallies as well as grassroot activity and the rise of local communities led some to proclaim the birth of a new civic society and even a new Belarusian political nation (Przybylski, 2020). The ultimate validity of these statements can be fully evaluated only with the benefit of hindsight, which we do not have as of the time of writing.
One can nevertheless safelyargue that unprecedented mass political mobilization and new forms of horizontal solidarity areimportant contributions to nation building-which, in the social constructivist paradigm, should beunderstood as a never-ending process rather than a singular event. This line of thought has been previously developed by authors who understand nations and nation-states as performing their identities through various genres of cultural production (e.g.
Shapiro, 2004).