Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Russia (Federation) – History – Philosophy'

The concepts of power and state - particularly embedded in the idea of the Great Power, with a geopolitical perspective and a profoundly aggressive character - are tantamount in importance to the Russia's elite political ideology. However, the existence of different emphases within such a political ideology, ranging from the active-obstructive to the passive stances, brings into question the factors of variation that might be responsible for the elite's level of determination to pursue these concepts over an internal or foreign policy development. In addressing this query, two tasks are set: descriptive - involving a survey of the content of Russian aggressive political ideology over different periods in history; and explanatory - determining circumstances that might account for the empowerment of one or other option of Russian aggressive political ideology. Therefore, the thesis includes a comparison of historical periods with similar relevance to the Russian state. The concern here is in relation to shifting factors of variations of aggressive political ideology acting in the space-frame of one state, but in different time-frame. Resting on these frames the thesis explores the shaping of the Russian elite's defining principles of state internal and foreign policy development and traces the factors of variation responsible for the empowerment of one or other particular form of the aggressive political ideology. The factors of variation discussed in the thesis are different in nature and intensity. The primary impetus for variation in the form that aggressive political ideology would take is determined by the factor of national distress. Other factors (regime volatility, political and economic motivations, information dissemination, and challenges within the international system) are responsible for the depth and extent to which aggressive ideology is going to resonate. No factor could create the variation by itself. The argument is that a specific set of factors is required to create the conditions for variations in the form the aggressive political ideology would take and to determine whether aggressive ideology would generate or not an obstructive political decision.

This thesis examines the Mid Upper Palaeolithic (MUP) of Russia (ca. 30,000-20,000 14C BP). During this time, as in the rest of Europe, the principal archaeological industry is known as the Gravettian. However, in Russia two other industries, the Streletskayan and the Gorodtsovian, are also known from the beginning of the MUP. Historically, there have been significant problems integrating the Russian MUP record with that from the rest of Europe. The research described in this thesis concentrates on backed lithic assemblages (including Gravette points, microgravettes, other backed points and backed bladelets) from five Russian Gravettian sites: Kostenki 8 Layer 2, Kostenki 4, Kostenki 9, Khotylevo 2 and Kostenki 21 Layer 3. These are studied from an explicitly Western European theoretical perspective, using standard techno-typological methods to construct typological groupings and describe the variation between and within sites. Alongside this, new radiocarbon dates from several sites Kostenki 8 Layer 2, Kostenki 4 and Borshchevo 5) were obtained. These radiocarbon dates are critically analysed alongside published dates and unpublished dates made available to this research. The results of the research constitute a new culture history for the Russian MUP. Each stage of the MUP is dated and described, and the uncertainties in our knowledge outlined. One new lithic index fossil is defined and two others are re-assessed. The Russian record is compared with the contemporary archaeological record elsewhere in Europe, in order to describe large-scale synchronic variation and changes through time in the homogeneity and regionalisation of material culture. The relationship between these dynamics and climate change are discussed.

This thesis is an exploration of the ways in which a number of important Russian writers and filmmakers of the 1910s and 1920s appropriated domestic interiors as structural, visual and literary metaphors. My focus is on the artistic articulation of the closed space of the Russian domestic interior, in particular as it surfaced in the narratives of the modernist literature and cinema of the time and became an essential metaphor of its age. In my discussion I take issue with two standard ways of understanding domestic space in existing literature. I argue that representations of home spaces in early twentiethcentury Russian culture mount a challenge to the conventional view of the home as a place of safety and stability. I also argue that, at this point, the traditional approach to the room and the domestic space as a fixed closed structure is assailed by representations that see domestic space as kinetic. The importance of the 'room in motion' means that I address cinematic as well as literary representations of domestic space, and show that even literary representation borrow cinematic techniques. My different chapters constitute case studies of various separate, but complementary, aspects of the representation of home space. The first chapter shows how domestic space in reflected in the poetical language of Anna Akhmatova. The second chapter focuses on the parallel exploration of rooms and a child's consciousness in Kotik Letaev by Andrei Belyi. The third chapter discovers the philosophy of a room built by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovskii in his short stories of the 1920s. The next three chapters focus on interiors of three different cinematic genres. The fourth chapter looks closely at films created by Evgenii Bauer, showing the director's innovative techniques of framing and set-design. The fifth chapter explores the film Tret'ia Meshchanskaia by Abram Room, focusing on the director's employment of the room as a structural device of the film. The last chapter analyses two lyrical comedies by Boris Barnet to show the comic effect produced by the empty room and domestic objects in his films, and also focuses on the image of staircase. In conclusion, I speculate that the representation of interior spaces in the period in question goes beyond genre, medium, and narrative structure and becomes an important and culturally dynamic motif of the time.

This thesis tests the hypothesis that between 1905 and 1940 Russian religious philosophy changed, and that this can be gauged by looking at how the meanings of four ideas (all-unity, sobornost', Sophia and Godmanhood) changed in that time. By looking at religious philosophy through these ideas we can better understand the intellectual climate of the period. The proposal that Russian religious philosophy should be considered a coherent school of thought and the hypothesis that it would be useful to look at its four central ideas are raised and challenged. The theory that a 'discourse' of religious philosophy united texts in this period is examined, and it is concluded that discourse theory can act as an aid in analysis of religious philosophy. Religious philosophy before the Revolution, the history of the Revolution and its influence on philosophy are examined and its productivity is explored. Post-revolutionary Russian religious thought focusing on the experience of exile is also examined, concluding that the political and social upheaval that Russians were subjected to in the first half of the twentieth century added to and complicated the meaning of the Revolution. Themes of isolation and exclusion become more prevalent in emigration, and religious philosophy also becomes more theological. The findings of this research are (1) that changes within religious philosophy took place and can be detected through the careful study of the ideas that make up this philosophy; (2) that these changes can only partially be attributed to external circumstances because internal constraints also affected the capacity of these ideas to change; (3) that these changes were part of a decline in production, popularity or relevance of religious philosophy; and (4) that it is possible to explain why certain areas of their use remained relevant while others became obsolete.

The thesis explores the 'return' migration and resettlement experience of members of ethnic Russian and Russian speaking migrant populations who over the period 1991-2000 left their homes in the former republics of the Soviet Union to resettle on the territory of the Russian Federation, their 'historical homeland'. The study focuses upon individual experiences of resettlement in two regions of the Russian Federation, but locates these experiences within the context of the wider regional, national and global migration regimes. The thesis traces the development of the institutions and legislation of the Russian federal and regional migration regimes over the period 1995-2001. The study demonstrates that the way in which the migration process (the migration movement and subsequent resettlement) and the space of 'return' are constructed, through political and non-political discourse and practice, often conflicts with migrant experiences of the same process and their expectations of 'return'. It charts how migrants, despite displacement and the often constraining features of the surrounding migration environment, begin to re-construct their own sense of 'home' at the site of settlement. The study concludes that rather than the migration process of the Russian populations from the former republics being a 'return' to a 'homeland', for the individual migrant the process represents an attempt to re-create an immediate 'home', that is primarily achieved through a reliance upon personal networks of family and friends.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Joint Program in Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2002.
Includes bibliographical references.
This thesis addresses the sources and transport of nuclear weapons related contamination in the Ob River region, Siberia. In addition to being one of the largest rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean, the bulk of the former Soviet Union's nuclear fuel reprocessing and weapons testing facilities (i.e. Mayak, Tomsk-7, and Semipalitinsk) are located within the Ob drainage basin. The atom ratios 240Pu/239Pu, 237Np/239Pu, and 137Cs/240Pu, measured by magnetic-sector ICP-MS, are used to distinguish between contamination derived from global fallout and contamination derived from local sources. Deposition chronologies estimated for sediment cores are used to construct a record of weapons related contamination at the sites sampled. Contaminant records indicate that in addition to debris from atmospheric weapons tests, materials derived from local sources have also played a role in nuclear weapons related contamination of the Ob region. Isotopic data presented in this study clearly demonstrate that non-fallout contamination has been transported the full length of the Tobol, Irtysh, and Ob Rivers (i.e. the tributaries draining Mayak, Semipalitinsk, and Tomsk-7, respectively). In several instances, unique isotopic compositions are observed in sediments collected from tributaries draining each of the suspected non-fallout sources. In such cases, these materials and their deposition ages have been used to link contamination in the Ob delta to Mayak, Tomsk-7, or Semipalitinsk. Linear transport rate estimates (km yr-1) indicate that contaminated sediments transit between source tributaries and the Ob delta on time-scales of [less than or equal to] l year.
(cont.) These estimates suggest that a catastrophic release of contamination due to dam failure at one of the many reservoirs located at both Mayak and Tomsk-7 that contain high levels of radioactive waste would result in measurable levels of contamination in the delta within as little as 1 year. Isotopic concentrations in sequentially extracted sediments containing weapons related contamination reveal that the majority of plutonium and neptunium (80 to 90 percent) behaves in a similar fashion regardless of the source and is removed by treating the sediments with citrate-dithionite. This indicates that plutonium and neptunium are not truly refractory and likely associate with redox sensitive sedimentary components. Isotopic ratios measured in extracted fractions suggest that only a minor fraction of contamination is associated with acid leachable or acid digestible sedimentary phases.
by Timothy Cope Kenna.
Ph.D.

The ideological evolution of the intellectual and political movement existed in postrevolutionary Russian emigration in the third and fourth decades of the XX century is analyzed in this dissertation. The ideological transformation of the Eurasians movement (which was defined as "degeneration of Russian idea to the Kremlin mafia universal idea of hegemony) was determined by the rivalry between different conceptions witc were represented by N.Tubetzkoy, P.Savicky, G.Florovsky and L.Karsavin. L.Karsavin role (lived in Kaunas since 1928) in this dramatic movement's evolution which culmination was the split of the movement in 1929 is analyzed in this dissertation.
Disertacijoje analizuojama trečiajame ir ketvirtajame XX a.dešimtmečiuose porevoluiucinėje rusų emigracijoje veikusio intelektualinio ir politinio sąjūdžio - "eurazininkų" - idėjinė evoliucija. Nustatoma, kad idėjinė eurazininkų judėjimo transformacija (kuri dažnai apibūdinama kaip "Rusijos idėjos išsigimimas į Kremliaus mafijos pasaulinės hegemonijos idealą") buvo nulemta skirtingų koncepcijų, kurioms atstovavo pirmiausia N.Trubeckojus, P.Savickis, G.Florovskis ir L.Karsavinas, konkurencijos, atvedusios į 1929 m. judėjimo skilimą. Atskirai nagrinėjamas L.Karsavino (nuo 1928 m. gyvenusio Kaune), suvaidinusio ypatingą vaidmenį klasikinio eurazizmo idėjinėje evoliucijoje, "eurazinis" palikimas.

Thesis (Ph.D) - University of Glasgow, 2007.
Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Department of Central and East European Studies, Faculty of Law, Business and Social Sciences, 2007. Includes bibliographical references. Print version also available.

This paper examines the role that military has played in the political development of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the modern Russian Federation. By utilizing the theoretical tenets of Eric Nordlinger, this paper endeavors to update and hopefully revise his classic work in civil-military relations, Soldiers in Politics. Chapter one of this paper introduces many of the main theoretical concepts utilized in this analysis. Chapter two considers the Stalinist totalitarian penetration model that set the standard for communist governments around the world. Chapter three follows up by addressing the middle years of Khrushchev and Brezhnev. Both reformed the military in its relation to the party and state and made the armed forces a more corporate and professional institution. Chapter four pinpoints the drastic changes in both the state and armed forces during Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost. The military briefly ventured to a point it never gone before by launching a short coup against the last Soviet president. Chapter five focuses on the last ten years in the Russian Federation. While still a professional organization typical of the liberal model of civil-military relations, the armed forces face great uncertainty, as economic and social problems demand more of their time and resources. Chapter six concludes by speculating on the future of Russian civilmilitary relations and reconsiders the importance of Nordlinger's elegant yet parsimonious work.

ix, 161 p. : maps
In 2002, the Russian government began distributing tens of thousands of Russian passports in the de facto states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Some scholarly attention has been devoted to this process, known as passportization, but most of the literature treats passportization as a primarily political process, ignoring its geographic aspects. This thesis shows that passportization in Abkhazia and South Ossetia amounted to a process of "biocolonization," wherein the populations of the de facto states were discursively captured by Russia through individual naturalization. Consequently, passportization served to create "Russian spaces" within the internationally recognized borders of Georgia and, in the process challenged international legal norms rooted in the logic of the modern state system.
Committee in charge: Dr. Alexander Murphy, Chair; Dr. Shaul Cohen, Member; Dr. Julie Hessler, Member

Disertacijoje analizuojama trečiajame ir ketvirtajame XX a. dešimtmečiuose rusų porevoliucinėje emigracijoje veikusio intelektualinio ir politinio sąjūdžio - "eurazininkų" - idėjinė evoliucija. Nustatoma, kad eurazininkų sąjūdžio idėjinė transformacija (kuri dažnai apibūdinama kaip "Rusijos idėjos išsigimimas į Kremliaus mafijos pasaulinės hegemonijos idealą") buvo nulemta skirtingų koncepcijų (atstovaujamų pirmiausia N.Trubeckojaus, P.Savickio, G.Florovskio ir L.Karsavino) konkurencijos, atvedusios į 1929 m. eurazininkų judėjimo skilimą. Disertacijoje parodomas išskirtinis L.Karsavino (nuo 1928 m. gyvenusio Kaune)vaidmuo "klasikinio" eurazizmo idėjinėje evoliucijoje.
The ideological evolution of the intellectual and political movement existed in postrevolutionary Russian emigration in the third and fourth decades of the XX century is analyzed in this dissertation. The ideological transformation of the Eurasians movement (which was defined as "degeneration of Russian idea to the Kremlin mafia universal ideal of hegemony") was determined by the rivalry between different conceptions which were represented by N.Trubetzkoy, P.Savicky, G.Florovsky and L.Karsavin. L.Karsavin role (lived in Kaunas since 1928) in this dramatic movement's evolution which culmination was the split of the movement in 1929 is analyzed in this dissertation.

Wahlen sind wichtige Bestandteile demokratischer Strukturen und werfen schon im Vorfeld ihrer Durchführung ihre Schatten voraus. Die Russländische Föderation (RF) stellt hierbei keine Ausnahme dar, aber können in ihrem Falle nur selten westeuropäische Maßstäbe angewandt werden. Russischen Uhren ticken anders. Für die RF gelten keine Schablonen, keine allgemein übertragbaren Parameter. Fragen der Sozialisierung, Mentalitätsfragen und Fragen nach der politischen Kultur spielen hierbei in der Realität eine entscheidende Rolle. Es ist wichtig, die Akteure im System selbst zu untersuchen, nicht aber, wie es in der Literatur stattfindet, mit dem Blick auf die Wirkung der Einzelakteure auf das Gesamtsystem, sondern des Gesamtsystems auf einen Einzelakteur. Hierbei analysiert die Arbeit die spezifischen Eigenarten des russländischen politischen Systems, verdeutlicht die Entwicklung des politischen Lebens in der RF, besonders der politischen Vereinigungen und streicht die rechtliche Stellung sowie die politischen Lager heraus. Im vereinigungspolitischen Spektrum der RF haben sich nur wenige Konstanten herauskristallisieren können. Einer dieser Fixpunkte ist in der Kommunistischen Partei der Russländischen Föderation (KPRF) zu sehen. Die Vereinigung hatte es geschafft, wie ein Phönix aus der Asche aufzusteigen. Sich nicht nur über die Zeit des Putsches 1993 zu retten, sondern in der Folgezeit zur einzigen Vereinigung zu erwachsen, der es möglich war, sich gegen die rechtspopulistische Liberal-Demokratische Partei Russlands (LDPR), die Parteien der Macht´, aber auch gegen JABLOKO und die Jelzin-Administration zu behaupten. Keine Vereinigung dieser Zeit schaffte es, so viele Mitglieder und Wähler an sich zu binden, wie es die kommunistische Partei unter G. A. Sjuganow vermochte. Letztendlich ist es der KPRF gelungen, mit G. A. Sjuganow den aussichtsreichsten Gegenkandidaten zu B. N. Jelzin aufzubauen. Die Präsidentschaftswahl von 1996 ist, wie keine nach ihr, denkbar knapp ausgefallen und erst in der Stichwahl entschieden worden. Gleichsam stellt das Jahr 1996 für die Vereinigung eine tief greifende Zäsur dar. Für die Erfolge und Niederlagen der KPRF ist es von Vorteil, die sie beeinflussenden Faktoren in exogene, der Makroebene politische System der RF´ und in endogene, der Mikroebene KPRF´ entstammende Faktoren zu unterteilen. Auf die exogenen Faktoren, wie beispielsweise die exponierte Stellung des Präsidenten, eine fehlende Parteiengesetzgebung, die marginale Stellung der Staatsduma, die Politikverdrossenheit und Sozialisierung der Wahlbevölkerung oder die geografischen Dimensionen der Föderation, konnte die Sjuganow-Vereinigung nur geringfügig Einfluss nehmen. Die endogenen Faktoren, wie das politische Programm, das Statut oder eine fehlende innerparteiliche Homogenität, lagen in den Händen der Vereinigung und konnten von ihr aktiv, aus ihr heraus gestaltet werden. Für den angestrebten Sieg zur Präsidentschaftswahl 1996 oblag es der KPRF, geeignete Strategien zu finden. Als für das Ziel positiv kann der Schwenk von der unversöhnlichen zur konstruktiven Opposition, eine breite Koalitionsbereitschaft, das Nutzen dichter Netzwerke und ein breites Angebot programmatischer Schwerpunkte, gekoppelt an den Passus Partei leninistischen Typs´ gewertet werden. Dass G. A. Sjuganow in der Vereinigung umstritten war, der Vorwurf des fehlenden Charismas im Raum stand und es die Vereinigung nicht vermochte, ausreichend Mobilisierungspotential gegenüber Wählern außerhalb der KPRF-Stammwählerschaft zu erreichen, sind als dem Ziel abträglich zu betrachten. Ferner verfolgte die KPRF einen grauen, klassischen, aber z. T. unprofessionellen Wahlkampf, der der Kremladministration nicht gefährlich werden konnte und dem modernen, stark medialen Wahlkampf B. N. Jelzins nichts entgegenzusetzen hatte. Eine einseitige Ausrichtung auf russisch-nationale Themen kann ebenfalls als strategischer Fehler der KPRF gesehen werden, zeigten doch Umfragen, dass dem Großteil der Wahlbevölkerung mehr an der Verbesserung der sozial-ökonomischen Lage gelegen war, als an nationaler Rhetorik. Eine von exogener Seite geschürte Kommunismusangst und das Fehlen eines positiven Alternativprogramms von endogener Seite runden das Scheitern der KPRF zur Präsidentschaftswahl 1996 ab. Die Arbeit zeigt, dass die exogenen, wie auch endogenen Faktoren sowohl hemmend, als auch fördernd auf die KPRF einwirken konnten. Woran die KPRF beim Erreichen des Wahlsieges von 1996 letztendlich scheiterte, kann aus keiner der beiden Seiten eindeutig abgeleitet werden. Sowohl die endogenen, als auch die exogenen Faktoren leisteten ihren Betrag zum Scheitern der Vereinigung, doch muss festgehalten werden, dass die Einflussnahme der KPRF auf die hemmenden Faktoren im exogenen Bereich hätte stärker ausfallen können.
Elections are important elements of democratic structures and cast a cloud over transforming processes, especially in the Russian Federation. One can rarely apply Western European parameters, as there are no simple patterns fitting the political structures. Questions of socialisation, mentality and questions concerning the political culture play a decisive role in Russian reality. The thesis analyses the specific rules of the Russian political system, shows the development of the political parties and is gives review of the regulatory framework and the political situation in the Russian Federation in the period 1991 - 1996. The main focus of the thesis is on the CPRF and the fast development after 1993, which could be compared to phoenix rising from the ashes. The CPRF matured and became an invariable political part of the Russian Federation. The Communist Party lost the presidential elections in 1996, which was the main chance for the CPRF to come into power. Candidate G. A. Zyganov received 32% of the votes, just 35% short of B. N. Yeltsin. The thesis analyses the mistakes the CPRF made and divides the influences into exogenous parameters (emanate from the macroscopic political system of the Russian Federation´) and endogenous parameters (emanate from the microscopic CPRF´).

In this thesis artwork is defined, through analogy with quantum mechanics, as the conjoining of the nonsimultaneously measurable momentum (waves) of artwork-text (words within the primary sources and exhibition catalogues) with the position (particles) of artwork-objects (artist- productivity/exhibition-quantities). Such a proposition allows for the changes within the artwork of the Russian avant-garde to be charted, as such artwork-objects are juxtaposed with different artwork-texts from 1902 to 2009. The artwork of an initial period from 1902 to 1934 is examined using primary-source artwork-text produced by Russian artists and critics in relation to the contemporaneous production-levels of various types of Russian-avant-garde artwork-objects. The primary sources in this dataset are those reproduced in the artwork-text produced by the 62 exhibitions described below, and those published in John E. Bowlt's 1991 edition of Russian Art of the Avant-Garde: Theory and Criticism. The production of artwork in the latter period from 1935 to 2009 is examined through consecutive exhibitions, and the relationship between the artwork-text produced by these exhibitions and the artwork-objects exhibited at them. The exhibitions examined within this thesis are 62 containing Russian avant-garde artwork, held in Britain from 1935 to 2009. Content analysis, using an indices-and-symptom analytical construct, functions to convert the textual, unstructured data of the artwork-text words to numerical, structured data of recording-unit weighted percentages. Whilst artist-productivity and exhibition-quantities of types of artwork-object convert the individual artwork-objects to structured data. Bivariate correlation, descriptive statistics, graphs and charts are used to define and compare relationships between: The recording units of the artwork-texts; the artist-productivity/ exhibition-quantities of types of artwork-objects; the structured artwork-text data and structured artwork-object data. These various correlations between structured artwork-text data and structured artwork-object data are calculated in relationship to time (Years) to chart the changes within these relationships. The changes within these relationships are synonymous with changes within Russian avant-garde artwork as presented from 1902 to 1934 and within the 62 British exhibitions from 1935 to 2009. Bivariate correlations between structured artwork-texts data and structured artwork-objects data express numerically (quantitatively) the ineffable relationships formed over time by large sets of unstructured data in the continued (re)creation of artwork.

Poetry by Russian women which has been published since the fall of the Soviet Union reveals that the quest to explore female identity and experience is no longer inviolable in Russian literature. This thesis examines female personae, gender and cultural identity in the work of Russian poets Nina Iskrenko (1951--1994), Tatiana Voltskaia (b. 1960), and Iuliia Kunina (b. 1966). Although the poetics of these writers' texts are broad-ranging, all of their work takes up the subjects of gender and cultural identity. Their poems explore identity as a discursive practice, rather than a fixed construct within the strictures of authoritative metanarratives' binary oppositions (male/female, feminine/masculine, Russian/non-Russian). This lends their poetry to postmodern analysis, an approach that heretofore has rarely been applied to poetry by Russian women. Within this theoretical framework, Judith Butler's formulation of "performativity" and Mikhail Epstein's theory of "transculturalism" are particularly well-suited to the task, as each entails non-essentialist conceptions of identity. Donna Haraway's formulation of "woman" as cyborg" is also a fitting theoretical complement, as it suggests the hybridization of identity, as well as the increasing role of the Internet in contemporary and future developments in Russian literature. The rapid changes in the late- and post-Soviet cultural landscape have engendered in contemporary poetry by Russian women powerful, new expressions of gender and cultural identity, which are resulting in startling subversions of authoritative discourses while at the same time forging coalitional "transmodern" identities.

On August 19, 1991, government hard-liners overthrew the Soviet Union for a period of 72 hours. Boris Yeltsin, the President of Russia, staged a protest on the steps of the Russian White House, where he gave speeches against the coup d'etat, releasing these speeches for dissemination between the hard-liners and the masses gathered to support Yeltsin. Yeltsin 's protest created a constituted identity amongst the people gathered who became part of the protest against the government. This created a confrontation between the two publics, where the state message developed a narrative involving a glorified past to which they wished to return, while the counter-public created a counter-narrative that argued a future of continued reforms would benefit the people of Russia and the Soviet Union. In the end, the counter-narrative achieved stronger approval from the masses, essentially replacing the state's narrative with its own. As a result, the hard-liners lost their grab for power, and Yeltsin emerged the winner in an ideological struggle for the future of the Russia and the Soviet Union.

In 1922, the Bolshevik government expelled some 160 prominent intellectuals from Russia. Numbered among these were many of the leaders of the Religious Renaissance which had flourished since the turn of the century. They advocated a "third way": neither for the Tsarist regime nor the Bolsheviks; neither for Capitalism nor Communism; neither for Materialism nor Idealism; rather, they promoted personalist, spiritual development (Godmanhood ), Christian economic ethics (Sobornost'), and a path to knowledge informed by reason, but guided by faith (Religious-Philosophy ). Forced to join the Russian diaspora, these religious philosophers continued to advance their movement with the help of the Young Men's Christian Association. Largely at the initiative of Nikolai Berdyaev (1874--1948), they also began to interact with the French intellectual milieu in Paris in order to develop inter-confessional and cultural understandings. Although Russian religious-philosophy suffered a certain decline following World War Two, many of their writings had returned to the USSR. As Soviet intellectuals discovered these works, they gradually began to revolt against dialectical materialism, and aspire to recover the religious-philosophical tradition. In 1988, this Return was at last made possible, and religious-philosophy has been enjoying a second renaissance which continues unabated today.

The present work analyses the fiction of the post-Soviet Russian writers, Vladimir Sorokin, Vladimir Tuchkov and Aleksandr Khurgin against the background of the notion of post-Soviet Russian postmodernism. In doing so, it investigates the usefulness and accuracy of this very notion, proposing that of ‘post-Soviet neo-modernism’ instead. Common critical approaches to post-Soviet Russian literature as being postmodern are questioned through an examination of the concept of postmodernism in its interrelated historical, social, and philosophical dimensions, and of its utility and adequacy in the Russian cultural context. In addition, it is proposed that the humorous and grotesque nature of certain post-Soviet works can be viewed as a creatively critical engagement with both the past, i.e. Soviet ideology, and the present, the socially tumultuous post-Soviet years. Russian modernism, while sharing typologically and literary-historically a number of key characteristics with Western modernism, was particularly motivated by a turning to the cultural repository of Russia’s past, and a metaphysical yearning for universal meaning transcending the perceived fragmentation of the tangible modern world. Continuing the older Russian tradition of resisting rationalism, and impressed by the sense of realist aesthetics failing the writer in the task of representing a world that eluded rational comprehension, modernists tended to subordinate artistic concerns to their esoteric convictions. Without appreciation of this spiritual dimension, semantic intention in Russian modernist fiction may escape a reader used to the conventions of realist fiction. It is suggested that contemporary Russian fiction as embodied in certain works by Sorokin, Tuchkov and Khurgin, while stylistically exhibiting a number of features commonly regarded as postmodern, such as parody, pastiche, playfulness, carnivalisation, the grotesque, intertextuality and self-consciousness, seems to resume modernism’s tendency to seek meaning and value for human existence in the transcendent realm, as well as in the cultural, in particular literary, treasures of the past. The closeness of such segments of post-Soviet fiction and modernism in this regard is, it is argued, ultimately contrary to the spirit of postmodernism and its relativistic and particularistic worldview. Hence the suggested conceptualisation of post-Soviet Russian fiction as ‘neo-modernist’.

Le Cercle de la Russie neuve est couramment présenté comme le lieu d’origine du « marxisme à la française » ; à savoir, d’une pensée marxiste reconduite au matérialisme des Lumières, définie en 1939 comme « rationalisme moderne » et qui sera, à partir de l’après-guerre, l’une des références idéologiques majeures du PCF. Et pourtant, les premiers travaux de ce groupe –dont le rôle joué dans l’introduction du matérialisme dialectique dans le débat philosophique en France est méconnu – sont consacrés à la démonstration de l’hétérogénéité du marxisme à la tradition rationaliste et matérialiste française, en proposant en revanche une lecture hégélianisante de la philosophie de Marx. Pour décrire le procès qui a conduit à ce véritable renversement de sens, et identifier les instances qui en étaient à l’origine, il ne suffit pas de remonter aux écrits des auteurs se réclamant du marxisme, pour les rendre à nouveau lisibles : il s’agit plutôt d’en suivre les thèses au-delà de leur formulation, dans leurs effets ainsi que dans leur interaction avec le champ idéologique dans lequel elles interviennent et qui à son tour les surdétermine. A la lumière de cette double forme d’existence de la philosophie marxiste – en tant que théorie, dans son élaboration, et en tant qu’idéologie, dans son activation – il est possible de réinscrire l’histoire de son introduction en France dans sa problématique originaire, et par là de l’interroger au-delà de la marque du stalinisme qui lui a été imprimée et qui en recouvre comme une pierre tombale sa propre spécificité
The Cercle de la Russie neuve is commonly described as the place of origin of the “marxisme à la français”, namely, a Marxist thought reduced to Enlightenment materialism, and defined in 1939 as “modern rationalism”. And yet, at first the work of this group was aimed to demonstrate the heterogeneity of Marxism to the French rationalist and materialist tradition, proposing instead a Hegelian reading of Marx's philosophy

The main objective of this thesis is to evaluate the circumstances and transition of the socio-economic system of the Russian Federation. It is also focused on the regional economy of Sverdlovsk region as a socio-economic subsystem. Uralmash plant is presented here as an example of an economic player in a process of transition. The thesis is based on several specific theories: socio-economic system and its transition, evolution of the economic systems by J. Schumpeter, social choice between chaos and dictatorship based on the new comparative economics, regionalist theory and corporate finance. It is chosen comparative-historical and empirical-statistical methodology. The main finding of the thesis is the inability of the socio-economic system of the USSR to continue in development as a result of dictatorship. However, the new Russian economy fell into a structural shift. The contribution of the thesis is a comprehensive view on transition process in Russia both at national and at regional and local level. Both theoretical and practical sites of transition are reflected. Not only macroeconomic but also microeconomic point of view is taken into account.

Il existe une continuité dans l’« idée » russe de l’Etat qu’une analogie dans la continuité des systèmes ne reflète pas. De la Russie impériale à la Russie soviétique, l’Etat (Gosudarstvo) n’est pas conçu comme une entité abstraite et autonome. A la dimension césariste du pouvoir correspond la non-émergence, et du concept et de la réalité d’un Etat. Jusqu’en 1917, la conception russe du pouvoir est conditionnée par le discours idéologique – religieux. Après 1917, sa principale caractéristique est d’être subordonnée à l’idéologie, en tant qu’expression de la volonté du Parti communiste. L’Etat soviétique s’impose donc comme un Etat « de fait » et non comme un Etat « de droit ». La prédominance du discours idéologique entrave, à la fois, la constitution d’une culture de l’Etat, qui reste une culture du pouvoir, et la formation d’une culture de l’antériorité et de la supériorité du droit sur l’Etat. Après la désintégration de l’Union soviétique, la référence à la démocratie libérale et à l’Etat de droit devient un outil de la création d’une nouvelle légitimité pour l’Etat postcommuniste. L’entrée de la Russie dans la modernité politique nécessite une rupture avec les postulats idéologiques du passé. Or, la déconstruction du socialisme est un processus beaucoup plus complexe que la construction de la démocratie. Bien qu’ayant subi, sur plusieurs siècles, plusieurs types de transitions – de l’absolutisme de droit divin au socialisme, puis au postcommunisme -, l’Etat russe a donc conservé certains caractères constants et typiques qui en font, encore aujourd’hui, un modèle hybride, en tension entre autoritarisme et démocratie
There is a continuity as concerns the « idea » of the state that an analogy with the different systems does not reflect. From imperial to Soviet Russia, the state (Gosudarstvo) is not thought of as an abstract and autonomous entity. Until 1917, the Russian conception of power is conditioned by the religious ideological discourse. After 1917, her main feature is one of submission to ideology, in other words the expression of the will of the Communist Party. The Soviet state stands out by its « de facto » nature, rather than a « de jure » state. The supremacy of the ideological discourse hampers both the constitution of a new state culture, which remains focused on power, and the formation of the precedence and the superiority of law over the state. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, reference to liberal democracy and the rule of law becomes a tool in creating renewed legitimacy for the postcommunist state. Russia’s entry into political modernity demands a rupture with the ideological postulates of the past. The dismantlement of socialism is a much more complex process than the construction of democracy. Despite having been subjected, over centuries, to many types of transition – absolutism founded on divine right to socialism, then postcommunism -, the Russian state has always preserved certain features (be they constant or specific) that make it, and still today, a hybrid model pulling towards both authoritarianism and democracy

This dissertation of limited scope traces the attempts by Gorbachev (1985-1991) to reform an economic, political and social system which was in a state of terminal decline. The origins of its demise, it is argued, lay in the ossified command economy inherited from Stalin. The enormous damage inflicted on Soviet agriculture during collectivisation in the 1930s~ when millions of productive peasants died, proved to be a fatal blow to that sector. Tlms, Gorbachev followed a two-fold strategy ofrefonn. Glasnost (openness) was introduced to allow constructive debate on economic and social matters. Despite a hesitant beginning, the right to criticise allowed the emergence of more radical campaigners, such as Yeltsin who demanded greater democracy. Significantly, the revival of ethnic nationalist demands in the republics led to disintegration. Perestroika (restructuring) was intended to modernise and boost living standards. The economy faltered but the market was not yet in place
History
M.A. (History)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
The collapse of communism and the fall of the Soviet Union offered an unprecedented opportunity for the international community to support transitions to democracy in a region that had long known only totalitarian rule. Among the key players engaged in supporting efforts were U.S. grantmaking institutions, including both non-state and quasi-state aid providers. This thesis explores the motivations and evolving strategies of three different types of grantmaking institutions in a single country, Russia, with a particular focus on democracy aid provision from 1988-2002. The three types of grantmaking organizations examined through case studies include: the Ford Foundation, a private foundation with a history of international grantmaking spanning several decades; the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, a private foundation known primarily for its domestic focus with a much shorter history of international grantmaking; and, finally, the National Endowment for Democracy, a U.S. government-created and heavily taxpayer-funded organization established as a private nonprofit organization to make grants specifically for democracy promotion. Motivating factors for initiating or expanding grantmaking in Russia in the late 1980s included a previous history of grantmaking in the region, a previously established institutional commitment to democracy promotion, international peace and security concerns, and interest from a top institutional leader. Over the course of the fourteen year period studied, five grantmaking features are identified as influencing the development of grantmaking strategies: professional grantmaking staff; organizational habit; global political, social, and economic environments; market and other funding source influences; and physical presence. Though subject to constraints, the non-state and quasi-state grantmaking institutions included in this study were able to avoid weaknesses identified with private philanthropy in other research and demonstrated a willingness to experiment and take risks, an ability to operate at the non-governmental level, and a commitment to long-term grantmaking, informed by expertise.

The identity of Russian Evangelical Churches theology is considered in this thesis. This identity arose as result of interactions of Western Evangelical movements with the Orthodox Church, and with native pre-Protestant groups. The separate area of theology chosen as the subject of research is ecclesiology. The historical background of the appearance of inner-orthodox movements is shown in this work in order to understand the theological peculiarities. Peculiarities of the orthodox and extra-orthodox mentality also are considered, as they become an important environment for the appearance and development of Evangelical theology in Russia. The last part of this work shows peculiarities of recent Evangelical ecclesiology.
Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics
M.Th. (Systematic Theology)

This thesis is focused on a concept of revolution in writings of Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev. It starts with general characteristics of a philosopher's works and special attention is given to the style of his writing. Main objective of the thesis is a description of Berdyaev's relation to the term revolution itself, which is given from philosophical, sociological and his- toriosophical perspective, as well as putting his notion of revolution into the context of histor- ical events that has occurred during the first quarter of 20th century in Russia. Thesis draws on Berdyaev's articles that appeared in these collections of papers: The Problems of Idealism (Problemy idealizma), Signposts (Vekhi), De profundis (Iz glubiny) and on his works: The Spir- itual Crisis of the Intelligentsia, The Philosophy of Inequality, The Spiritual Origins of Russian Revolution.