Cover: Voluntary Associations in Tsarist Russia: Science, Patriotism, and Civil Society, from Harvard University PressCover: Voluntary Associations in Tsarist Russia in HARDCOVER

Voluntary Associations in Tsarist Russia

Science, Patriotism, and Civil Society

Product Details

HARDCOVER

Print on Demand

$76.00 • £66.95 • €69.95

ISBN 9780674032798

Publication Date: 06/30/2009

Short

384 pages

6-1/8 x 9-1/4 inches

25 halftones

World

Add to Cart

Media Requests:

Related Subjects

On the eve of World War I, Russia, not known as a nation of joiners, had thousands of voluntary associations. Joseph Bradley examines the crucial role of voluntary associations in the development of civil society in Russia from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century.

Russians populated a growing public sphere with societies based on the model of the European enlightenment. Owing to the mission of such learned associations as the Free Economic Society, the Moscow Agricultural Society, and the Russian Geographical Society, civil society became inextricably linked to patriotism and the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Although civil society and the autocratic state are often described as bitter rivals, cooperation in the project of national prestige and prosperity was more often the rule. However, an increasing public assertiveness challenged autocratic authority, and associations became a focal point of a contradictory political culture: they fostered a state–society partnership but at the same time were a critical element in the effort to emancipate society from autocracy and arbitrary officialdom.

Recent News

Black lives matter. Black voices matter. A statement from HUP »

From Our Blog

Photograph of the book Fearless Women against red/white striped background

A Conversation with Elizabeth Cobbs about Fearless Women

For Women’s History Month, we are highlighting the work of Elizabeth Cobbs, whose new book Fearless Women shows how the movement for women’s rights has been deeply entwined with the history of the United States since its founding. Cobbs traces the lives of pathbreaking women who, inspired by American ideals, fought for the cause in their own ways