More than Conservatism: Historical and Political Foundations of Russian Statehood

Abstract

The paper is dedicated to the problem of updating existing ideas about the historical and political foundations of Russian statehood. The main goal of the paper is to update the existing academic discourse, aimed at complex and systematic reflection of Russian political thought, and the presentation of an unorthodox reading of the intellectual and philosophical foundation of Russian politics. Regardless contemporary focus on conservative political philosophy is the most common for such studies, the author believes it is necessary to go beyond this position and turn to a more systematic and comprehensive understanding of the key positions of the Russian worldview. For this, it is necessary to turn to the underestimated, sometimes even ignored concepts of communitarianism, solidarism and Russian cosmism, which should be revealed within the framework of a civilizational approach. The main conclusion of the work is that, considered as a developing system, these concepts embody the value constants of community, sobornost’ (catholicity), harmony and solidarity that are significant for Russian civilization, and also emphasize the global rootedness of the Russian worldview with simultaneous original understanding and interpreting the ideological guidelines of the leading trends in social political thought. The author believes it is extremely important to take into account these circumstances dealing with current public opinion and the process of reforming the scientific and educational sector that has begun in Russia. It also emphasizes the need to optimize methodological work during the study of political thought - through the awareness of the indoctrination of contemporary social sciences and their conceptual apparatus, clear understanding the natural dynamics of civilizational development and the impossibility of dogmatically reducing multiform and multinational cultures to a simplified formal doctrine.