Political and Social Thought in Post-Communist Russia (BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies)

This is the first comprehensive study of Russian political and social thought in the post-Communist era. The book portrays and critically examines the conceptual and theoretical attempts by Russian scholars and political thinkers to make sense of the challenges of post-communism and the trials of economic, political and social transformation. It brings together the various strands of political thought that have been formulated in the wake of the collapsed communist doctrine. It engages constructively with the numerous attempts by Russian political theorists and social scientists to articulate a coherent model of liberal democracy in their country. The book investigates critical, as well as favourable voices, in the Russian debate on liberal democracy, a debate often marked by eclecticism and, at times, little conceptual discipline. As such, the book will be of great interest both to Russian specialists, and to all those interested in political and social thought more widely. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 6 Copyright......Page 7 Contents......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 11 1 Introduction......Page 12 2 Positions......Page 17 Part I Foundations for Russian politics and society......Page 26 3 Law, culture and civility......Page 28 4 Liberal politics and nationhood......Page 45 5 Statehood, Russia and historical conditions of liberalism......Page 62 Part II Foundations for Russian political and social theory......Page 80 6 Russian thought between East and West: Influences and misunderstandings......Page 82 7 Transition and transformation......Page 98 8 Modernity and political liberalism......Page 106 9 Chaos and anarchy in Russian society......Page 123 10 What is the ‘Russian challenge’ for Western liberal thought?......Page 139 11 Conclusion......Page 151 Notes......Page 166 References......Page 168 Index......Page 178 This is a study of Russian political and social thought in the post-Communist era. It portrays and critically examines the conceptual and theoretical attempts by Russian scholars and political thinkers to make sense of the challenges of post-communism and the trials of economic, political and social transformation Providing the first book-length comprehensive study of Russian political and social thought in the post-Communist era, this book portrays and critically examines the conceptual and theoretical attempts by Russian scholars and political thinkers to make sense of the challenges of post-communism