The Price of Utopia: The History of Russian Modernization
19.99 €
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The Price of Utopia: The History of Russian Modernization
19.99 €
Why have all attempts to modernize and liberalize Russia over the past 160 years ended in failure? Mikhail Davydov poses this key question for our history in his book. To try to answer it, the author proposes to turn to the second half of the 19th century - a time when, according to him, Russia was trying to realize the first anti-capitalist utopia in its history. The authorities and part of society agreed that in the industrial era it was possible to be an "original" great power, that is, to influence the fate of the world, rejecting in principle everything that rivals and opponents had achieved prosperity at the expense of, and first of all, the common civil legal system and the corresponding rights of all segments of the population. As a result, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Russian Empire was the only world power that did without a parliament and to which the concept of the rule of law did not apply. What social and economic processes helped shape this utopia? How did Witte and Stolypin succeed in modernizing the country and why, in the author's opinion, did it take place despite the active opposition of the elites? And most importantly: how did this utopia predetermine the fate of the country for many years to come? Mikhail Davydov is a doctor of historical sciences, professor at the School of Historical Sciences of the Higher School of Economics, and a specialist in the history of Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author
- All books in the series What is Russia