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Russian Pogroms and Jewish Revolution, 1905: Class, Ethnicity, Autocracy in the First Russian Revolution (Routledge Studies in the History of Russia and Eastern Europe)
by Gerald D. SurhThis book, based on extensive original research, examines the widespread and violent pogroms against Jews which took place in the Russian Empire in 1905. It briefly surveys the earlier history of Jews in the Russian Empire and the discriminatory policies against them. The work outlines the extent of the killings and lootings in 1905, explores the role of the authorities who were often neutral or complicit in the violence, and highlights Jewish self-defense measures. It relates the pogroms to the place of the Jews in Russian urban and rural life, to social change and modernisation, and to the revolutionary events of 1905, in which Jews played a prominent role, and during which calls for ethnic self-determination arose among many nationalities of the Russian Empire, most broadly and consequentially among Jews. Overall, the book views the pogroms as a consequence not only of Russian antisemitism, but of the broader, revolutionary breakdown of Russian state and society in 1905.
Russian Policy towards China and Japan: The El'tsin and Putin Periods (BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies #Vol. 42)
by Natasha KuhrtDrawing on the most up-to-date sources, this book provides an in-depth examination of Russia’s relations with China and Japan, the two Asia-Pacific superpowers-in-waiting. For Russia there has always been more than one ‘Asia’: after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were those in the Russian elite who saw Asia as implying the economic dynamism of the Asia-Pacific, with Japan as the main player. However there were others who saw the chance for Russia to reassert its claim to be a great power, based on Russia’s geopolitical and geoeconomic position as a Eurasian power. For these, China was the power to engage with: together China and Russia could control both Heartland and Rim, both Eurasia and Asia-Pacific, whereas accepting Japan’s conception of Asia implied regional fragmentation and shared sovereignty. This book argues that this strand of thinking, mainly confined to nationalists in the El’tsin years, has now, under Putin, become the dominant discourse among Russian policymakers. Despite opportunities for convergence presented by energy resources, even for trilateral cooperation, traditional anxiety regarding loss of control over key resource areas in the Russian Far East is now used to inform regional policy, leading to a new resource nationalism. In light of Russia’s new assertiveness in global affairs and its increasing use of the so-called ‘energy weapon’ in foreign policy, this book will appeal not only to specialists on Russian politics and foreign policy, but also to international relations scholars.
Russian Politics and Society
by Richard SakwaHaving been fully revised and updated to reflect the considerable changes in Russia over the last decade, the fourth edition of this classic text builds on the strengths of the previous editions to provide a comprehensive and sophisticated analysis on Russian politics and society. New to this edition: extended coverage of electoral laws, party development and regional politics new chapter on the 'phoney democracy' period, 1991-93 historical evaluation of Yeltsin's leadership full coverage of Putin's presidency discussion of the development of civil society and the problems of democratic consolidation latest developments in the Chechnya conflict more on foreign policy issues the re-introduction of the Russian Constitution as an appendix an updated Select Bibliography more focus on the challenges facing Russia in the twenty-first century. Written in an accessible and lively style, this book is packed with detailed information on the central debates and issues in Russia's difficult transformation. This makes it the best available textbook on the subject and is essential reading for all those concerned with the fate of Russia, and with the future of international society.
Russian Politics and Society
by Richard SakwaFully revised and updated to reflect the considerable changes in Russia over the last decade, the fifth edition of this classic text builds on the strengths of previous editions to provide a comprehensive and sophisticated analysis of Russian politics and society. The new edition incorporates the latest debates about Russian politics, analysing recent institutional and political developments, and examines the electoral cycle and prospects of the president elected at the end of the process. New to this edition: an evaluation of Putin’s leadership and the country's political performance under him; updated election results and demographic, social, ethnic/national statistics to include results of the 2010 census; changes in the party system, to electoral legislation and to the composition of parliament as well as the relationship between the executive and legislature; coverage of the constitutional changes and governmental appointments under the various prime ministers; more analysis of economic performance including discussion of the energy sector and pipeline politics; changes in Russian foreign policy since EU enlargement, its relationship with NATO since the ‘reset’, as well as its relations with post-Soviet states; assessment of the military reforms and security and defence policy; debates over the question of democracy in Russia today, the nature of the system, and its future prospects. Written in an accessible and lively style, this book is packed with detailed information on the central debates and issues in Russia’s difficult transformation. An unrivalled textbook on the subject it is essential reading for all those concerned with the fate of Russia, and with the future of international society.
Russian Postmodernism
by Mikhail N. Epstein Alexander A. Genis Slobodanka Millicent Vladiv-GloverRecent decades have been decisive for Russia not only politically but culturally as well. The end of the Cold War has enabled Russia to take part in the global rise and crystallization of postmodernism. This volume investigates the manifestations of this crucial trend in Russian fiction, poetry, art, and spirituality, demonstrating how Russian postmodernism is its own unique entity. It offers a point of departure and valuable guide to an area of contemporary literary-cultural studies insufficiently represented in English-language scholarship. This second edition includes additional essays on the topic and a new introduction examining the most recent developments.
Russian Practices of Governance in Eurasia: Frontier Power Dynamics, 16–19th Century (Central Asian Studies)
by Gulnar T. KendirbaiThis book analyses the role of the mobility factor in the spread of Russian rule in Eurasia in the formative period of the rise of the Russian Empire and offers an examination of the interaction of Russian authorities with their nomadic partners. Demonstrating that the mobility factor strongly shaped the system of protectorate that the Russian and Qing monarchs imposed on their nomadic counterparts, the book argues that it operated as a flexible institutional framework, which enabled all sides to derive maximum benefits from a given political situation. The author establishes that interactions of Russian authorities with their Kalmyk and Qazaq counterparts during the mid-16th to the mid-19th centuries were strongly informed by the power dynamics of the Inner Asian frontier. These dynamics were marked by Russia’s rivalry with Qing Chinese and Jungar leaders to exert its influence over frontier nomadic populations. This book shows that each of these parties began to adopt key elements of existing steppe political culture. It also suggests that the different norms of governance adopted by the Russian state continued to shape its elite politics well into the 1820s and beyond. The author proposes that, by combining key elements of this culture with new practices, Russian authorities proved capable of creating innovative forms of governance that ended up shaping the very nature of the colonial Russian state itself. An important contribution to the ongoing debates pertaining to the nature of the spread of Russian rule over the numerous populations of the vast Eurasian terrains, this book will be of interest to academics working on Russian history, Central Asian/Eurasian history and political and cultural history.
The Russian Presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, 2008-2012: The Next Step Forward or Merely a Time Out? (Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series)
by J. L. BlackThe term "tandem" was used to describe the Putin-Medvedev combination which ruled Russia from 2008 to 2012, when Medvedev was president and Putin prime minister. Many people saw Putin as the real wielder of power, with Medvedev as his puppet. Others, however, saw Medvedev as a visionary, someone who envisioned large scale schemes - even though these schemes have not yet come to fruition. At the same time, many in the West regarded Medvedev favourably, and gave him credit for raising expectations among both the elite and the middle classes in Russia in such a way as to make it difficult for the Russian state to return to its old ways. This book presents a comprehensive survey of the Medvedev presidency, covering all areas including politics, the economy, international relations and social developments. The author concludes that it is still too early to assess Medvedev's achievements definitively.
Russian Provincial Society: An Empirical Analysis (Societies and Political Orders in Transition)
by Juri PlusninThis book presents a unique analysis of modern Russian provincial society. Based on detailed empirical evidence, it develops a theoretical model of Russian provincial society in the late 20th century and the early 21st century. The book explains how under the conditions of catastrophic changes, Russian provincial societies have undergone a structural transformation. It further sheds light on the transformation of the economic behavior of the population and households with regard to economic practices, crafts, and revived archaic forms of labor behavior. Summarizing the extensive empirical evidence, the book puts forward the concept of complementarity of two social structures at the local level: a ground "soft communal" structure and a "tightening with an iron hoop" estate state structure. Next, it discusses the stability and resistance of the local social structure to external political disturbances. Based on the presented analysis, the book introduces several independent criteria on the basis of which it establishes the typology of all empirically observed forms of societies. Subsequently, the book identifies six main types of Russian provincial societies. It explains how depending on the type, the different societies either adapt to political and economic changes in different ways, stay unchanged or transform their structure. The book will appeal to students, scholars, and researchers of economics, political science, sociology, and anthropology, interested in a better understanding of transformation studies, population and household economics, provincial societies, as well as Russian societal structures.
Russian Regions and Regionalism: Strength through Weakness
by Graeme P. Herd Anne AldisThe emergence of large regions within Russia as centres of gravity for political and international power, and the changing relationship between these emerging regions and the centre are critically important factors currently at work within Russia. This book examines the whole question of Russian regions and regionalism. It considers important themes related to regionalism, including demography, security, military themes and international relations, and looks at a wide range of particular regions as case studies. It discusses the extent to which regions have succeeded in establishing themselves as centres of power, and assesses the degree to which President Putin is succeeding in incorporating regions into a hierarchy of power in which the primacy of the centre is retained.
The Russian Revolution and India
by Ilasai Manian; V. RajeshThe October Revolution undoubtedly produced a radicalising effect on the Indian situation from the very beginning. At the end of World War I, India was astir with workers’ strikes and massive demonstrations against British repression. Peasant unrest was also growing. It was this awakened India, entering the mass phase of its fight for independence, which looked to the Russian Revolution and to its leader Lenin for inspiration and help.They further saw that Lenin and other leaders of Soviet Russia stood for a new social order in which exploitation of man by man is ended, an order based on brotherhood, equality and cooperation of men, and had established a society in which the working class and the toiling people had come into their own and taken over the reins of administration to build socialism. This volume contains several articles and essays concerning the Indian national movement and the support extended by Russia. In particular,the essays related to the lives of the expatriate Indian revolutionaries in Europe and the meeting of Indian revolutionaries with Lenin are of interest in this volume. The views of Indian national leaders like M.K. Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, B.G. Tilak among others on Russian Revolution are also included. In short, this volume will be useful to understand the support extended by Russia to the Indian national movement during the first half of the twentieth century. Please note: This title is co-published with Aakar Books, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the print edition in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives or Bhutan)
The Russian Revolution in Retreat, 1920-24: Soviet Workers and the New Communist Elite (BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies)
by Simon PiraniThe Russian revolution of 1917 was a defining event of the twentieth century, and its achievements and failures remain controversial in the twenty-first. This book focuses on the retreat from the revolution’s aims in 1920–24, after the civil war and at the start of the New Economic Policy – and specifically, on the turbulent relationship between the working class and the Communist Party in those years. It is based on extensive original research of the actions and reactions of the party leadership and ranks, of dissidents and members of other parties, and of trade union activists and ordinary factory workers. It discusses working-class collective action before, during and after the crisis of 1921, when the Bolsheviks were confronted by the revolt at the Kronshtadt naval base and other protest movements. This book argues that the working class was politically expropriated by the Bolshevik party, as democratic bodies such as soviets and factory committees were deprived of decision-making power; it examines how the new Soviet ruling class began to take shape. It shows how some worker activists concluded that the principles of 1917 had been betrayed, while others accepted a social contract, under which workers were assured of improvements in living standards in exchange for increased labour discipline and productivity, and a surrender of political power to the party.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 - Memory and Legacy (ISSN)
by Carol S. Leonard Daniel Orlovsky Jurej PetrovThe way in which the Russian Revolution of October 1917 is regarded and commemorated has changed considerably over time, and is a contentious subject, well demonstrated by the absence of any official commemoration in Russia in 2017, a huge contrast to the very large celebrations which took place in Soviet times. This book, which brings together a range of leading historians of the Russian Revolution—from both Russia and the West, and both younger and older historians—explores the changes in the way in which the October 1917 Revolution is commemorated, and also examines fundamental questions about what the Russian Revolution—indeed what any revolution—was anyway. Among the issues covered are how Soviet and Western historians diverged in their early assessments of what the Revolution achieved, how the period studied by historians has recently extended both much earlier before 1917 and much later afterwards, and how views of the Revolution within the Soviet Union changed over time from acceptance of the official Communist Party interpretation to more independent viewpoints. Overall, the book provides a major reassessment of one of the twentieth century’s most important events.
Russian Society and the Orthodox Church: Religion in Russia after Communism (BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies #Vol. 13)
by Zoe KnoxRussian Society and the Orthodox Church examines the Russian Orthodox Church's social and political role and its relationship to civil society in post-Communist Russia. It shows how Orthodox prelates, clergy and laity have shaped Russians' attitudes towards religious and ideological pluralism, which in turn have influenced the ways in which Russians understand civil society, including those of its features - pluralism and freedom of conscience - that are essential for a functioning democracy. It shows how the official church, including the Moscow Patriarchate, has impeded the development of civil society, while on the other hand the non-official church, including nonconformist clergy and lay activists, has promoted concepts central to civil society.
Russian-Speaking Jews in Germany’s Jewish Communities, 1990–2005 (Palgrave Studies in Migration History)
by Joseph CroninThis book explores the transformative impact that the immigration of large numbers of Jews from the former Soviet Union to Germany had on Jewish communities from 1990 to 2005. It focuses on four points of tension and conflict between existing community members and new Russian-speaking arrivals. These raised the fundamental questions: who should count as a Jew, how should Jews in Germany relate to the Holocaust, and who should the communities represent? By analyzing a wide range of source material, including Jewish and German newspapers, Bundestag debates and the opinions of some prominent Jewish commentators, Joseph Cronin investigates how such conflicts arose within Jewish communities and the measures taken to deal with them. This book provides a unique insight into a Jewish population little understood outside Germany, but whose significance in the post-Holocaust world cannot be underestimated.
The Russian State and Russian Energy Companies, 1992–2018 (BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies)
by Ingerid M. OpdahlThe Russian State and Russian Energy Companies analyses the development of relations between the state and five major energy companies, and how this shaped Russia’s foreign policy in the post-Soviet region. The book argues that the development of Russia’s political economy mattered for foreign policy over the quarter of a century from 1992 to 2018. Energy companies’ roles in institutional development enabled them to influence foreign policy formation, and they became available as tools to implement foreign policy. The extent to which it happened for each company varied with their accessibility to the Russian state. Institutional development increased state capacity, in a way that strengthened Russia’s political regime. The book shows how the combined power of several companies in the gas, oil, electricity, and nuclear energy industry was a key feature of Russian foreign policy, both in bilateral relationships and in support of Russia’s regional position. In this way, Russia’s energy resources were converted to regional influence. The book contributes to our understanding of Russia’s political economy and its influence on foreign policy, and of the formation of policy towards post-Soviet states.
Russian Tales of Clever Fools: Complete Russian Folktale
by Jack V. HaneyThis is the concluding installment of a splendid multi-volume work that makes available to English readers a rich folktale tradition that has not been easily accessible or well-known in the West. Compared to other European traditions, the East Slavs have an extremely large number of tale types. Using the Aarne-Thompson index to folktale types, and drawing on both archival and written sources dating back to the early sixteenth century, J.V. Haney has assembled and translated examples of the full range of tales. Nearly all of these tales appear here in translation for the first time. The tales in this volume center on the so-called fool, the village simpleton. However, Ivan, the Russian everyman, turns out to have far more sense than his would-be oppressors. The greedy priests and landlords and dim-witted demons who try to take advantage of him are easily outsmarted. In the end it is they who are shown to be the fools as Ivan outwits or outlasts them. In these unequal contests lies the pleasure of the tales.
Russian Television Today: Primetime Drama and Comedy (Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series)
by David MacFadyenExamining the role of dramatized narratives in Russian television, this book stresses the ways in which the Russian government under Putin use primetime television to express a new understanding of what it means to be Russian, answering key questions of national identity for modern Russians in dealing with their recent history: ‘What really happened to us?’ and, accordingly, ‘Why?’ The book covers important issues in Russian television today, including: the reworking of new ‘national’ on-screen heroes its relationship with classic literature the revisionist portrayal of a romantic portrait of life in the Soviet era the role of thematic elements such as love, fidelity, humour and irony the particularly pressing problem of crime and its representation on screen as Mafia or police adventure, and its political usage by the Putin administration. This book provides a detailed account of the critical issues in contemporary Russian television, relating them to broader social and political developments in Russian society.
Russian Traditional Culture: Religion, Gender and Customary Law
by Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer Ronald RadzaiThe resurgence of national and historical awareness among the people of what was once the USSR has been nowhere stronger than among the Russians themselves. Some of the larger projects of rediscovery amount to a reinterpretation of traditional culture. This carefully annotated collection of recent studies of Russian folk religion, village organization and family life, including the rituals associated with childbirth, special attention to women's roles and to the specificity of Siberia in Russian culture, will be a revelation to a wide array of readers. It is intended for use not only in anthropology departments but more widely interdisciplinary courses in Russian studies, peasant studies and women's studies.
The Russian Tragedy: The Burden of History
by Hugh RagsdaleThis work provides an interpretive history of Russia from earliest times to today, recounting the story of Russia's past. It discusses Russia's strengths and weaknesses as a civilization, and the challenges posed by the contemporary effort to remake Russia.
Russian Transformations: Challenging the Global Narrative (BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies #Vol. 8)
by Leo McCannThe transition of Russia to a 'developed market economy' has been slower, more contradictory and less predictable than expected. This book examines contemporary Russian socio-economic development, and explores the degree to which Russian experiences can be incorporated into current social science theories. In particular, it questions how far the concept of 'globalization' is applicable to the situation in Russia.
Russian Views of Japan, 1792-1913: An Anthology of Travel Writing (Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia #Vol. 23)
by David N. WellsBefore Japan was 'opened up' in the 1850s, contact with Russia as well as other western maritime nations was extremely limited. Yet from the early eighteenth century onwards, as a result of their expanding commercial interests in East Asia and the North Pacific, Russians had begun to encounter Japanese and were increasingly eager to establish diplomatic and trading relations with Japan. This book presents rare narratives written by Russians, including official envoys, scholars and, later, tourists, who visited Japan between 1792 and 1913. The introduction and notes set these narratives in the context of the history of Russo-Japanese relations and the genre of European travel writing, showing how the Russian writers combined ethnographic interests with the assertion of Russian and European values, simultaneously inscribing power relations and negotiating cultural difference.
Russian Women and the End of Soviet Socialism: Everyday Experiences of Economic Change
by Judith McKinneyInitially expected to bring efficiency to the Russian economy and prosperity to Russian society, the shock therapy of price liberalization, privatization and macroeconomic stabilization introduced under Boris Yeltsin was quickly condemned as having worsened the lives of most Russians. Based on conversations with more than two dozen women in a provincial Russian capital, this book takes a retrospective look at these economic policies and explores how they transformed the trajectory of the lives of these women- both positively and negatively- in the family and in the workplace. McKinney considers the everyday experiences of the women as they provided for their families, established businesses, travelled abroad, and adjusted to the new economic, political and social environment of the Late Soviet and Post-Soviet era. Through their divergent experiences, Russian Women and the End of Soviet Socialism casts light on how these women view issues of gender, ethnicity, domestic and international politics, and the end of the Soviet experiment.Students and scholars across a range of disciplines, including gender studies, sociology, economics and history, will find this book of interest.
Russians as People
by Wright Miller"Russians As People" teaches teach us about the nature of loyalty and discontent in Russia, about the types of collectivism and individuality, about social classes and identities, about initiative and self-consciousness, and about the sense of "continuity" of the Russian people.
The Russians in Israel: A New Ethnic Group in a Tribal Society (Routledge Studies on the Arab-Israeli Conflict)
by Majid Ibrahim Al-HajThis book constitutes the first systematic and critical discussion of questions of immigration and society in Israel from a global perspective. The comprehensive study covers the 30-year period since the beginning of the immigrant influx from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s and incorporates data based on a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods. It provides an important opportunity to examine identity and patterns of adaptation among immigrants, with the added perspective afforded by the passage of time. Moreover, it sheds light on the Russians' cumulative influence on Israeli society and on the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Considering all groups within Israeli society, it covers Palestinian-Arab citizens in Israel who have almost never been included in analyses addressing questions of Jewish immigration to Israel. Multiculturalism is the central theoretical framework of this study, alongside specific theoretical considerations of ethnic formation, political mobilization among ethnic groups, and immigration and conflict in deeply divided societies. However, while Jewish-Arab relations in Israel are typically analyzed in the context of majority-minority relations, this book offers a pioneering approach that analyzes these relations within the context of a Jewish majority with a minority phobia and an Arab minority with a sense of regional majority. Addressing existing and anticipated influences of Russian immigrants on politics, culture and social structures in Israel, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, The Russians in Israel will be useful to students and scholars of Middle Eastern politics and society, as well as Israel, Russian, and Ethnicity Studies.
Russia's Approach to Post-Conflict Reconstruction: The History, Context, and its effect on Ukraine
by Sultan BarakatSoon after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Vladimir Putin expressed Russia's commitment for the reconstruction of the war-devasted Eastern regions of Ukraine. It is surprising how little analytical and comparative literature exists about Russia’s experience in post-conflict recovery despite its involvement in a large number of conflict areas, both as an intervenor and as a donor.Against this backdrop, this book explores the role of Russia in the reconstruction of a range of countries and territories including Crimea, the North Caucasus and Chechnya as well as Syria. Based on the author’s three decades-long experience in research and engagement in post-conflict reconstruction, the book offers a valuable overview of the main lessons learned that will be of relevance to Ukraine. The case selection is not intended to offer an exhaustive account of all the recent or contemporary conflicts in which Russia has involved itself. Rather the cases have been selected to illustrate a range of interventions across different periods and geographical areas, highlighting the spectrum of Russian reconstruction policies and strategies.