STATE IDEOLOGY, SCIENCE, AND PSEUDOSCIENCE IN RUSSIA : betweeen the cosmos and the earth

This book recounts the entangled stories of three distinctly Russian movements—state ideology, Russian cosmism, and Eurasianism—from their inception at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century until now. Despite harboring pseudoscientific and mystical ideas specific to Russia, all three movements were propagated by their followers as “universal sciences,” and all three vied for scientific supremacy and universal acceptance. Suppressed by the Bolsheviks and their state ideology as “unscientific” in the 1920s, Russian cosmism and Eurasianism led an esoteric underground existence during the Soviet period and re-emerged in the dying years of the Soviet Union, seeking not only to reclaim their “scientific” status but also to potentially fill the perplexing vacuum left by the ensuing demise of Soviet state ideology. This study relates the post-Soviet search for a new state ideology, or new National Idea, at the federal and regional levels, based on the Kremlin’s projects and the case of the ethnic Republic of Kalmykia in south-west Russia. Contents List of Figures Acknowledgments Introduction PART I: STATE IDEOLOGY 11 1 Ideology 2 Soviet Ideology PART II: PSEUDOSCIENCE 3 Russian Cosmism 4 Eurasianism PART III: KALMYKIA 5 Kalmykia and Its History 6 Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, The Nebulous Savior PART IV: STATE IDEOLOGY OF KALMYKIA 7 Ideology of Wisdom 8 Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, The Fallen Angel 9 Why Do People Still Need Ideology? PART V: FUTURE IDEOLOGY 10 What’s Next? 11 Digital Ideologies? Bibliography Index About the Author "Russia is defined by its past legacies, including Soviet state ideology and the intellectual movements of Russian cosmism and Eurasianism. This book recounts the histories of these legacies and the ongoing search for a unifying state-controlled narrative in contemporary Russia, drawing on the evolution of ideas across time and space"-- Provided by publisher