DOCSLIB.ORG

Moderator's Introduction to the Workshop Since the Outbreak of The

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Moderator's Introduction to the Workshop Since the Outbreak of The Moderator’s introduction to the workshop Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in 2014, Russia has been forced to abandon its traditional diplomatic strategy centering on European allies. Instead, it has to look east and actively promote a new Asia-Pacific strategy. Nevertheless, scholars at home and abroad have frequently questioned the continuity of Russia’s new strategy. From a historical point of view, one of the most fundamental problems in Russian state-building is the ideological swing caused by the geographical differences between the East and the West. Every seemingly accidental choice is underpinned by a profound historical tradition. Therefore, Russia’s path of state-building is unique in the development of world history and political science. Studying this issue is helpful to understand the direction of the development of the modern Russian state and the future development of Sino-Russian relations. At the workshop, Prof. Uyama Tomohiko and Associate Professor Alexander Morrison analyzed the Central Asia policy of the Russian Empire, stressing the strict control of Central Asia by the Russian Empire. As a result, the local forces and the people in Central Asia basically were obedient to the Czar in the mid and late 19th century. They did not have a special impact on the disintegration of the empire. The collapse of the central regime was the root of the disintegration of the Russian Empire. Prof. Zhang Guangxiang expounded on how the state built the economy by introducing the industrialization of Russia in the mid and late 19th century, saying the accumulation of Russian 1 capital and the promotion of industrialization were all achieved by the intervention of the state. Prof. Zhang Jianhua pointed out that “national identity” and “civic identity” is a concurrent, thorny question that goes in the same or opposite direction in the course of rapid political, economic, social and cultural transformation, giving examples of the ethnic policies of contemporary Russia. Associate Professor Dimitrii Andreev explained the institutional characteristics of Russian state-building through the development of bureaucracy in the “long 19th century” of the Russian Empire. Pang Dapeng and Zhao Huirong discussed the transformation of the contemporary Russian political system and the relationship between Russia and Europe. From the perspective of historical development, it is not accurate to identify Russia as a nation-state. Scholars at home and abroad now tend to call it an “empire.” For a country with a highly complex ethnic composition and constantly expanding geographical territory, there is no doubt that state-building occupied the first place in Russia’s history during the period of the Czar and the Soviet Union. It is exactly the aforementioned characteristics that lead to the complexity and difficulty in Russia’s state-building. An awareness of historical phenomena that shows the essence of Russian state-building is helpful to grasp Russia’s fundamental interests in diplomacy. This will help make reasonable predictions in foreign decision-making. International academic exchanges like the Broadyard Workshop (博雅工作坊) provide the public with a channel to understand Russia comprehensively and truly. They also help support the development of a Chinese national 2 strategy, and contribute to the development of the intellectual power of China’s domestic academia. Zhuang Yu September 10, 2019 3 The 21st Broadyard Workshop Russia’s Choices in its Approach to ‘State-Building’ September 5, 2019 The 21st Broadyard Workshop is led by Zhuang Yu, associate professor at the Department of History of Peking University, and participated by experts and scholars from well-known universities and research institutions at home and abroad, including Moscow State University, Oxford University, Hokkaido University of Japan, Beijing Normal University, Jilin University, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Focusing on the multi-dimensional research methods and perspectives in this field, they had an in-depth discussion on the important issue of Russia’s state-building path. Qian Chengdan, director of the Institute of Area Studies, Peking University (PKUIAS), extended a warm welcome to experts and scholars from various countries as well as teachers and students attending the workshop. He pointed out that choosing “Russia’s Choices in its Approach to ‘State-Building’” as the theme of the first workshop of the new semester was significant. Russia is an important great power and a near neighbor, sharing a long border with China. Issues related to Russia have attracted close attention of academia, and are of great research value. PKUIAS frequently holds thematic workshops on specific countries and regions, inviting experts and scholars from all over the world. Such international platforms aim to promote mutual exchanges and understanding among scholars. An emerging international dialogue is the main driving force to enhance area studies. This workshop gathers 4 scholars from well-known universities and research institutions in Russia, the UK and Japan. It is hoped that these guests will often come for events, and put forward valuable suggestions for PKUIAS. Uyama Tomohiko, a professor of Central Eurasian studies with Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, Hokkaido University, gave the first presentation, entitled “The Russian Empire’s Attitudes Toward Its Non-Russian Subjects: Between Particularism and Russian Nationalism.” There have long been different views in academia on the attitude of the Russian imperial policy toward non-Russian subjects. Some people call the empire a “prison of nations,” while others think that Russia was more racially and ethnically tolerant than other European empires. Uyama Tomohiko opposed the latter view, which dominates the historical discourse in today’s Russia, and pointed out that Russia’s Orientalistic and discriminative attitudes toward non-Europeans is in many ways as common as in other European empires. Moreover, there is another problem in both the “tolerant empire” and the “prison of nations” theory. Both tend to regard Russia’s policy toward non-Russians as basically consistent throughout the imperial period and all peoples. However, Russian policy changed greatly over time and there are stark differences in policies toward different peoples. First, policies were formulated by the Russian empire depending on circumstances of incorporation of given peoples and subsequent situations with them. Roughly speaking, those peoples who were annexed to the Russian Empire by the early 5 19th century and were seen as more or less developed, with the exception of Jews, were incorporated into the same soslovie (estate) system as the Russians and had nearly the same rights and obligations. Aristocrats of these peoples, most notably Poles, Baltic Germans, Tatars and Georgians, formed part of the imperial elite. Some of them converted to Russian Orthodoxy and were assimilated to the Russian nobility, while many others became pillars of imperial rule in their own regions. In contrast, peoples who were seen underdeveloped, including among others indigenous peoples of Siberia, were grouped together as inorodtsy (people of different descent), a category outside the normal soslovie system, The Kazakhs, Kalmyks, Nogais, and later annexed peoples of Turkestan were also given the status of inorodtsy, who were considered to need special treatments because of their backwardness and peculiar modes of life such as nomadic, pastoralism, hunting and gathering. Imperial authorities exempted them from military conscription, partially preserved their customary law, and adapted tax systems to local conditions. Russian policy toward inorodtsy was thus protectionist and paternalist, but at the same time was discriminatory. Notables from among inorodtsy often played important roles in establishing Russian rule in their regions but were not incorporated into the Russian nobility with some exceptions, and their privileges were reduced over time. It is important to keep in mind that the Russians were not always in an absolutely dominant position. The empire’s control of ethnic relations was largely flexible and depended on the power of the local people. The Germans in the Baltic region and 6 the Poles in Ukraine and Belarus were dominant in land ownership and cultural terms, and the Tatars had a relatively strong influence in the Volga-Ural region. The imperial power manipulated interethnic relations, sometimes using dominant peoples’ influences in regional governance, and sometimes pretended to protect weaker peoples to constrain stronger ones. Policy of constraint became particularly visible from the mid-19th century, with the independence-aspiring Poles as the main target of repression. The Jews were also perceived as a threat, and in 1835 they were put into the category of inorodtsy, which in this case meant only discrimination, not protection. Second, regional differences were important in administration of both major peoples and inorodtsy. The principles of regional administration were stipulated by the basic law of 1775, but not all of them were applied to the peripheries, and special statutes were enacted for the Caucasus, Turkestan, the Steppe Region, etc. There were also special statutes for some ethnic groups. Thus, the Bashkirs were governed by the statute about the Bashkirs, and the Kalmyks and the Kazakhs of the Inner Horde (Astrakhan province) were governed by special clauses. Cossacks and migrants were governed by still different rules,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • History 3351 IMPERIAL RUSSIA Fall 2017 Monday and Wednesday, 12:30
    History 3351 IMPERIAL RUSSIA Fall 2017 Monday and Wednesday, 12:30 – 1:50 pm Dr. Elaine MacKinnon/ Office: TLC 3222 Phone: 678-839-6048 Office hours: in my office--MW 11:00 am to 12:00 pm, 3:30 to 4:00 pm, or by appointment Online office hours (conducted via email or Google groups)—TTh 11:00 am to 1:00 pm (hours for the online office hours may vary from week to week—check Course Den weekly to see if the hours are different), or by appointment E-mail: [email protected] PLEASE NOTE: MY PREFERRED EMAIL ADDRESS IS [email protected]. DO NOT USE COURSE DEN EMAIL TO CONTACT ME. EMAIL ME AT MY WESTGA.EDU ADDRESS— [email protected] Goals and Learning Outcomes: The aim of this course is to introduce students to the history, geography, and society of Imperial Russia from the reign of Peter the Great to the Revolutions of 1917, and to the methodology of studying Russian history. Our focus is on the political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions of Russia's historical development after 1682, particularly its imperial expansion and entry into European affairs. Students will examine themes of change and continuity over time and learn to differentiate between fact and interpretation in the analysis of Russian history. Topics will include the rise of the state of Muscovy and its evolution into an absolutist monarchy under the rule of “tsars” (the Russian word for “Caesar”); the Westernizing “revolution” of Peter the Great; the evolution of Russian serfdom and of Russia's social classes; Russia’s Orthodox Christian tradition; Russia's cultural awakening and subsequent contributions to world literature, art, music; the pursuit of empire (some have labeled this “self- colonization”); emancipation of the serfs; the rise of the intelligentsia and of radical revolutionary movements; economic modernization; and the role of individual rulers in promoting both reform and reaction in Russian history.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cossack Myth: History and Nationhood in the Age of Empires
    THE COSSACK MYTH In the years following the Napoleonic Wars, a mysterious manuscript began to circulate among the dissatisfied noble elite of the Russian Empire. Entitled The History of the Rus′, it became one of the most influential historical texts of the modern era. Attributed to an eighteenth-century Orthodox archbishop, it described the heroic struggles of the Ukrainian Cossacks. Alexander Pushkin read the book as a manifestation of Russian national spirit, but Taras Shevchenko interpreted it as a quest for Ukrainian national liberation, and it would inspire thousands of Ukrainians to fight for the freedom of their homeland. Serhii Plokhy tells the fascinating story of the text’s discovery and dissemination, unravelling the mystery of its authorship and tracing its subsequent impact on Russian and Ukrainian historical and literary imagination. In so doing, he brilliantly illuminates the relationship between history, myth, empire, and nationhood, from Napoleonic times to the fall of the Soviet Union. serhii plokhy is the Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University. His previous publications include Ukraine and Russia: Representations of the Past (2008)andThe Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus (2006). Downloaded from Cambridge Books Online by IP 210.212.129.125 on Sun Dec 23 05:35:34 WET 2012. http://ebooks.cambridge.org/ebook.jsf?bid=CBO9781139135399 Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2012 new studies in european history Edited by PETER
    [Show full text]
  • Russia's Foreign Policy: the Internal
    RUSSIA’S FOREIGN POLICY FOREIGN RUSSIA’S XXXXXXXX Andemus, cont? Giliis. Fertus por aciendam ponclem is at ISPI. omantem atuidic estius, nos modiertimiu consulabus RUSSIA’S FOREIGN POLICY: vivissulin voctum lissede fenducient. Andius isupio uratient. THE INTERNAL- Founded in 1934, ISPI is Actu sis me inatquam te te te, consulvit rei firiam atque a an independent think tank committed to the study of catis. Benterri er prarivitea nit; ipiesse stiliis aucto esceps, INTERNATIONAL LINK international political and Catuit depse huiumum peris, et esupimur, omnerobus economic dynamics. coneque nocuperem moves es vesimus. edited by Aldo Ferrari and Eleonora Tafuro Ambrosetti It is the only Italian Institute Iter ponsultorem, ursultorei contern ultortum di sid C. Marbi introduction by Paolo Magri – and one of the very few in silictemqui publint, Ti. Teatquit, videst auderfe ndiissendam Europe – to combine research Romnesidem simaximium intimus, ut et; eto te adhui activities with a significant publius conlostam sultusquit vid Cate facteri oriciamdi, commitment to training, events, ompec morterei iam pracion tum mo habem vitus pat veri and global risk analysis for senaributem apecultum forte hicie convo, que tris. Serum companies and institutions. pra intin tant. ISPI favours an interdisciplinary Bonertum inatum et rem sus ilicaedemus vid con tum and policy-oriented approach made possible by a research aur, conenit non se facia movere pareis, vo, vistelis re, crei team of over 50 analysts and terae movenenit L. Um prox noximod neritiam adeffrestod an international network of 70 comnit. Mulvis Ahacciverte confenit vat. Romnihilii issedem universities, think tanks, and acchuiu scenimi liescipio vistum det; hacrurorum, et, research centres.
    [Show full text]
  • Abrief History
    A BRIEF HISTORY OF RUSSIA i-xxiv_BH-Russia_fm.indd i 5/7/08 4:03:06 PM i-xxiv_BH-Russia_fm.indd ii 5/7/08 4:03:06 PM A BRIEF HISTORY OF RUSSIA MICHAEL KORT Boston University i-xxiv_BH-Russia_fm.indd iii 5/7/08 4:03:06 PM A Brief History of Russia Copyright © 2008 by Michael Kort The author has made every effort to clear permissions for material excerpted in this book. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kort, Michael, 1944– A brief history of Russia / Michael Kort. p. cm.—(Brief history) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8160-7112-8 ISBN-10: 0-8160-7112-8 1. Russia—History. 2. Soviet Union—History. I. Title. DK40.K687 2007 947—dc22 2007032723 The author and Facts On File have made every effort to contact copyright holders. The publisher will be glad to rectify, in future editions, any errors or omissions brought to their notice. We thank the following presses for permission to reproduce the material listed. Oxford University Press, London, for permission to reprint portions of Mikhail Speransky’s 1802 memorandum to Alexander I from The Russia Empire, 1801–1917 (1967) by Hugh Seton-Watson.
    [Show full text]
  • And Post-Soviet Literature and Culture
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2017 Russia Eternal: Recalling The Imperial Era In Late- And Post-Soviet Literature And Culture Pavel Khazanov University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Eastern European Studies Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, European History Commons, and the European Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Khazanov, Pavel, "Russia Eternal: Recalling The Imperial Era In Late- And Post-Soviet Literature And Culture" (2017). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2894. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2894 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2894 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Russia Eternal: Recalling The Imperial Era In Late- And Post-Soviet Literature And Culture Abstract The return of Tsarist buildings, narratives and symbols has been a prominent facet of social life in post- Soviet Russia. My dissertation aims to explain this phenomenon and its meaning by tracking contemporary Russia’s cultural memory of the Imperial era. By close-reading both popular and influential cultural texts, as well as analyzing their conditions of production and reception, I show how three generations of Russian cultural elites from the 1950s until today have used Russia’s past to fight present- day political battles, and outline how the cultural memory of the Imperial epoch continues to inform post- Soviet Russian leaders and their mainstream detractors. Chapters One and Two situate the origin of Russian culture’s current engagement with the pre-Revolutionary era in the social dynamic following Stalin’s death in 1953.
    [Show full text]
  • Making Jews Modern in the Polish Borderlands
    Out of the Shtetl Making Jews Modern in the Polish Borderlands NANCY SINKOFF OUT OF THE SHTETL Program in Judaic Studies Brown University Box 1826 Providence, RI 02912 BROWN JUDAIC STUDIES Series Editors David C. Jacobson Ross S. Kraemer Saul M. Olyan Number 336 OUT OF THE SHTETL Making Jews Modern in the Polish Borderlands by Nancy Sinkoff OUT OF THE SHTETL Making Jews Modern in the Polish Borderlands Nancy Sinkoff Brown Judaic Studies Providence Copyright © 2020 by Brown University Library of Congress Control Number: 2019953799 Publication assistance from the Koret Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. Open access edition funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities/ Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book Program. The text of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non- Commercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License: https://creativecom- mons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. To use this book, or parts of this book, in any way not covered by the license, please contact Brown Judaic Studies, Brown University, Box 1826, Providence, RI 02912. In memory of my mother Alice B. Sinkoff (April 23, 1930 – February 6, 1997) and my father Marvin W. Sinkoff (October 22, 1926 – July 19, 2002) CONTENTS Acknowledgments....................................................................................... ix A Word about Place Names ....................................................................... xiii List of Maps and Illustrations .................................................................... xv Introduction:
    [Show full text]
  • The First Russian Revolution – the Decembrist Movement and Its Impact on Russian Political History
    ISSN: 2158-7051 ==================== INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RUSSIAN STUDIES ==================== ISSUE NO. 6 ( 2017/2 ) THE FIRST RUSSIAN REVOLUTION – THE DECEMBRIST MOVEMENT AND ITS IMPACT ON RUSSIAN POLITICAL HISTORY ANIL ÇİÇEK* Summary Almost two centuries have passed since the Decembrist uprising, but it still continues to be a very important topic for historians, scholars, and researchers as it had dramatic repercussions in Russian political history and culture that, according to some historians, are still visible today. The determination, dedication to the cause, and sacrifices of the Decembrists have fascinated leading Russian writers and their image has been mythologized with numerous works of literature and art. Inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, freemasonry, and their experiences in Western Europe during the campaigns against Napoleon, the Decembrists desired political and social reform. Specifically, they wanted to eradicate the autocratic system, reform the judicial system, and emancipate the serfs. This paper attempts to explore the dynamics of the Decembrist movement and its impact in Russian political history. In doing so, it briefly examines the economic, cultural, social, and political circumstances that prepared the ground for the emergence of the movement. The paper then focuses on the short-, medium-, and long-term repercussions of the Decembrist movement in Russian history. Finally, the paper tries to underline the revolutionary character of the Decembrist movement, which became an inspiration for the revolutionary movements to follow and not only opened a new era in Russian history but in global politics as well. Key Words: Decembrists, serfdom, Napoleonic Wars, liberal idea, Speransky’s project, Official Nationalism, Westernizers, Slavophiles, European revolutions of 1848, revolutionary movement.
    [Show full text]
  • This Work Is Protected by Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Rights
    This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights and duplication or sale of all or part is not permitted, except that material may be duplicated by you for research, private study, criticism/review or educational purposes. Electronic or print copies are for your own personal, non- commercial use and shall not be passed to any other individual. No quotation may be published without proper acknowledgement. For any other use, or to quote extensively from the work, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder/s. RUSSIAN MATERIALISM: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PRE-REVOLUTIONARY MATERIALIST TRADITION COLIN CHANT PH.D. THESIS 1977 IMAGING SERVICES NORTH *• i *• « t \ h RARY Boston Spa, Wetherby West Yorkshire, LS23 7BQ www.bl.uk BEST COPY AVAILABLE. VARIABLE PRINT QUALITY ABSTRACT The principal aim of this thesis is to take a step towards a fuller coverage in this language of the history of Russian materialism and atheism« It is divided into Three Parts« The first discusses the transition from German idealism in the 1830s to materialism and atheism from the l840s onwards amongst the intelligentsia; particular attention is given to the vogue for Feuerbach, and it is suggested that his appeal for the Russians lay in a materialism which admitted the mental but debarred the spiritual, i«e., allowed for a moral critique of Tsarism not only outside of, but in opposition to, religion« The first part ends with an analysis of Lenin*s Materialism and Empiriocritisism« both to compare his own stance with that of Feuerbach,
    [Show full text]
  • Western Siberia and the Russian Empire, 1879–1900*
    IRSH 63 (2018), Special Issue, pp. 131–150 doi:10.1017/S0020859018000251 © 2018 Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis Exile as Imperial Practice: Western Siberia and the Russian Empire, 1879–1900* Z HANNA P OPOVA International Institute of Social History Cruquiusweg 31, 1019 AT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: More than 800,000 people were exiled to Siberia during the nineteenth century. Exile was a complex administrative arrangement that involved differentiated flows of exiles and, in the view of the central authorities, contributed to the colonization of Siberia. This article adopts the “perspective from the colonies” and analyses the local dimension of exile to Siberia. First, it underscores the conflicted nature of the practice by highlighting the agency of the local administrators and the multitude of tensions and negotiations that the maintenance of exile involved. Secondly, by focusing on the example of the penal site of Tobolsk, where exile and imprisonment overlapped, I will elucidate the uneasy relationship between those two penal practices during Russian prison reform. In doing so, I will re-evaluate the position of exile in relation to both penal and governance practice in Imperial Russia. INTRODUCTION This article analyses exile to Siberia at a time of reform of the Russian penal system. By adopting the “perspective from the colonies” and investigating the local specificities of exile in Western Siberia, I will discuss how tension arose between attempts at prison reform and efforts to expand and con- solidate the Russian Empire. In the Russian context, exile is often perceived as direct expulsion of criminals and political offenders from central areas of the Russian Empire to its eastern borderlands.
    [Show full text]
  • The Boundaries of Europe Discourses on Intellectual Europe
    Pietro Rossi (Ed.) The Boundaries of Europe Discourses on Intellectual Europe Published on behalf of ALLEA Series Editor: Günter Stock, President of ALLEA Volume 1 The Boundaries of Europe From the Fall of the Ancient World to the Age of Decolonisation Edited by Pietro Rossi AKADEMIE FORSCHUNG ISBN 978-3-11-042556-7 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-042072-2 e-ISBN (PUB) 978-3-11-042083-8 ISSN 2364-1398 eISSN 2364-2947 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Cover: www.tagul.com Typesetting: Michael Peschke, Berlin Printing: CPI books GmbH, Leck ♾ Printed on acid free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Foreword by Series Editor Günter Stock There is a debate on the future of Europe that is currently in progress, and with it comes a perceived scepticism and lack of commitment towards the idea of European integration that increasingly manifests itself in politics, the media, culture and society. The question, however, remains as to what extent this reported scepticism truly reflects people’s opinions and feelings about Europe. We all consider it normal to cross borders within Europe, often while using the same money, as well as to take part in exchange programmes, invest in enterprises across Europe, and appeal to Europe institutions if national regulations, for example, do not meet our expectations.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Economic Development of Russia in Χіχ Century
    © Journal «Bulletin Social-Economic and Humanitarian Research», № 1(3), 2019, e-ISSN 2658-5561 Date of publication: February 6, 2019 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.2550837 Historical Sciences SOCIAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIA IN ΧІΧ CENTURY 1 Zabariushaya, Darya Konstantinovna 1Bachelor, Voronezh State Technical University, 20 years of October street, 84, Voronezh, Russia, E-mail: [email protected] Abstract In article describes social and economic development of Russia in ΧІΧ century. Special attention was paid to the study of different reforms of emperors of the time. They have radically changed the country to better side and put it on the path of intensive socio-economic development. Some of that reforms saved Russia from rebellions, others led to them. Modern scientists have the opportunity to analyze the errors of the time. Many people are interested in what caused these reforms and the consequences they brought. This article answers these questions. Keywords: serfdom, social stratification, industrial revolution, autocracy, reforms. І. INTRODUCTION The XIX-th century became the decisive and critical period in the history of the Russian state. At this particular time an attempt to change society was made: from traditional (agrarian) to make industrial, that is to join the all-European process of upgrade. Imperial interests — the aspiration to save the status of the great country – induced the autocratic power to make advances to the ideas of the European liberalism. In the political sphere was spoken about personal freedom and dominance of interests of one person over collective; in economic – about the right of free personality activity and competition, about freedom of the contract between the employer and the worker.
    [Show full text]
  • Imperial Formations and Ethnic Diversity: Institutions, Practices, and Longue Durée Illustrated by the Example of Russia
    MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY WORKING PAPERS WORKING PAPER NO. 165 DITTMAR SCHORKOWITZ IMPERIAL FORMATIONS AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY: INSTITUTIONS, PRACTICES, AND LONGUE DURÉE ILLUSTRATED BY THE EXAMPLE OF RUSSIA Halle / Saale 2015 ISSN 1615-4568 Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, PO Box 110351, 06017 Halle / Saale, Phone: +49 (0)345 2927- 0, Fax: +49 (0)345 2927- 402, http://www.eth.mpg.de, e-mail: [email protected] Imperial Formations and Ethnic Diversity: institutions, practices, and longue durée illustrated by the example of Russia1 Dittmar Schorkowitz2 Abstract In the present essay I will examine the complex relations between imperial formations and ethnic diversity, illustrated by the example of Russia. The focus will be on state institutions and practices of rule of longue durée that may be typical of the tension-laden relationship between ethnic minorities and multinational states, and thus of immediate relevance for the present as well. The essay begins with a brief review of recent debates on the imperial turn and Russia’s ‘postcolonial’ heritage. Then the “particularistic arrangements of rule” identified by Adeeb Khalid with regard to Soviet Central Asia will be discussed in some detail, using the example of the eastern Siberian Buryats and the Kalmyks of southern Russia. It will become apparent that the imperial formation of institutions is characterised by historical continuity. In the concluding remarks, I will suggest some new perspectives with regard to a more comprehensive and comparative approach. 1 The present working paper is the English translation of a revised, updated, and enlarged version of a public lecture held before the Faculty for Philosophy of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg on 17 December 2014, entitled: “Imperiale Formationen und ethnische Diversität: Institutionen, Praktiken und Longue Durée am Beispiel Rußlands”.
    [Show full text]