Associations and the Development of Civil Society in Tsarist Russia

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-42
Author(s):  
Joseph Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
State Control ◽  
The Public ◽  
Imperial Russia ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Learned Societies ◽  
The Relationship

This article examines the growth of civil society in imperial Russia by focusing on voluntary associations, especially learned societies, closely watched by tsarist officialdom but neglected by historians. Although scholars often emphasize the peculiarities of Russian development, Russia's societies were part of a broader European phenomenon. A study of associations highlights the relationship between state and society in authoritarian regimes where civil society is most vigorously contested. Because authoritarian regimes close the channels of representative politics and make it difficult for their subjects to act freely in concert, associations demonstrate the potential for the self-organization of society. They cultivate the microspaces of initiative and autonomy not completely under state control where the capacity of citizenship can appear. This study conceptualizes the development of Russian civil society and the way in which the disenfranchised could enter public life by using the examples of six Russian learned societies. Owing to the mission of the learned societies, Russian civil society became inextricably linked to patriotism and the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Associations raised consciousness, accorded an opportunity for special-interest constituencies of men to enter the public arena, framed policy issues, and mobilized a public in the language of representation. Although civil society and the autocratic state are often described as bitter rivals, cooperation, not confrontation, in the project of national prestige and prosperity was more often the rule. However, an increasing public assertiveness challenged autocratic authority, as Russian officialdom was unwilling to relinquish its tutelary supervision of civil society. Thus, associations became a focal point of a contradictory political culture.

Updated "state-society contract" as a way to rationalization of national projects in Russia

2021 ◽  
pp. 7-14
Author(s):  
T.I. Grabelnykh ◽  
◽  
N.A. Sablina ◽  
A.N. Parkhomenko
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Administration System ◽  
Public Control ◽  
The Public ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Conceptual Foundations ◽  
The Relationship

Researched are systemic aspects of the process of implementing national projects in Russia. Attention is focused on effectiveness of solving key problems of development of the public administration system in the context of the relationship between the state and society under modern conditions. The institution of public control in Russia is characterized through prerequisites of formation, organizational and legal status and main functions. The work defines the place and role of the institution of public opinion in the system of public administration and public control, substantiates its regulatory mechanisms, factors and agents of influence. In the aspect of systemic relationship between public administration and public control, the specificity of implementation of national projects in the transforming Russian society is revealed. A sociological vision of the “reset” of conceptual foundations of interrelationships between the public administration system and the institution of public control both at the stage of “entering” the space of national projects and in the process of their implementation is presented. It has been proved, that at the present stage the main integrating factor is consolidation of society through an updated "state-society contract". The analysis of historical and modern practices of public participation made it possible to draw a conclusion about the increase in the function of “co-management” of public control bodies in the interaction of state and public structures.

scholarly journals HOW TO SABOTAGE A SECRET SOCIETY: THE DEMISE OF CARL FRIEDRICH BAHRDT'S GERMAN UNION IN 1789

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-402
Author(s):  
ANDREW MCKENZIE-MCHARG
Keyword(s):  
Secret Society ◽  
Republic Of Letters ◽  
The Public ◽  
The North ◽  
State And Society ◽  
German Republic ◽  
The Status ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractIn 1789 in Leipzig, a slim pamphlet of 128 pages appeared that sent shock waves through the German republic of letters. The pamphlet, bearing the title Mehr Noten als Text (More notes than text), was an ‘exposure’ whose most sensational element was a list naming numerous members of the North German intelligentsia as initiates of a secret society. This secret society, known as the German Union, aimed to push back against anti-Enlightenment tendencies most obviously manifest in the policies promulgated under the new Prussian king Frederick William II. The German Union was the brainchild of the notorious theologian Carl Friedrich Bahrdt (1741–92). But who was responsible for the ‘exposure’? Using material culled from several archives, this article pieces together for the first time the back story to Mehr Noten als Text and in doing so uncovers a surprisingly heterogeneous network of Freemasons, publishers, and state officials. The findings prompt us to reconsider general questions about the relationship of state and society in the late Enlightenment, the interplay of the public and the arcane spheres and the status of religious heterodoxy at this time.

scholarly journals Civil Society and Pro-Democracy Social Movements: Troubled Relations Within Authoritarian Regimes?

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murad Nasibov
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Collective Actions ◽  
Organic Solidarity ◽  
Mechanical Solidarity ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Conceptual Relationship

This article tries to conceptually lay down the troubled relations between civil society and social movements within authoritarian regimes. This is done by, first, bringing clarity to the conceptual relationship between civil society and social movement and, then, applying it to the authoritarian context, still theoretically. Following the “hints” of the Eastern European intellectuals of the late 1970s and the 1980s and building on the appropriation of Durkheim’s differentiation between mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity, the article distinguishes two types of solidarity: associative solidarity and action and collective solidarity and action. Civil society is proposed to emerge on associative solidarities (and their actions), while social movements build on collective solidarities (and their actions). Furthermore, associative and collective actions are identified to be progressive and transgressive, respectively. Consequently, the proposed theoretical account is applied theoretically to the authoritarian context and several hypotheses are proposed on the relationship between civil society and pro-democracy movement within authoritarian regimes.

Let Many Civil Societies Bloom: The Rise of Consultative Authoritarianism in China

2013 ◽  
Vol 213 ◽  
pp. 19-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica C. Teets
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Public Welfare ◽  
Development Model ◽  
State Control ◽  
New Model ◽  
Local Officials

AbstractIn this article, I analyse civil society development in China using examples from Beijing to demonstrate the causal role of local officials' ideas about these groups during the last 20 years. I argue that the decentralization of public welfare and the linkage of promotion to the delivery of these goods supported the idea of local government–civil society collaboration. This idea was undermined by international examples of civil society opposing authoritarianism and the strength of the state-led development model after the 2008 economic crisis. I find growing convergence on a new model of state–society relationship that I call “consultative authoritarianism,” which encourages the simultaneous expansion of a fairly autonomous civil society and the development of more indirect tools of state control. This model challenges the conventional wisdom that an operationally autonomous civil society cannot exist inside authoritarian regimes and that the presence of civil society is an indicator of democratization.

Relocating Civil Society: Theories and Practices of Civil Society between Late Medieval and Modern Society

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarten F. Van Dijck ◽  
Bert De Munck ◽  
Nicholas Terpstra
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Voluntary Associations ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Associational Life ◽  
The Public ◽  
Civic Virtues ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Church

Civil society is widely considered as a crucial element in contemporary society. Academics and policy makers have traditionally associated it with voluntary associations and organizations, assuming that associational life is an ideal intermediary between citizens and government. While members of associations form large social networks, which they can mobilize at critical moments, the conviviality of group sociability fosters the development of a set of common values, such as a democratic political culture and other civic virtues. Its origins are generally situated in the eighteenth century, and are mostly attributed to secularization, Enlightenment thinking, the birth of the “public sphere,” and growing emancipation from oppressive structures such as the church and the state.

scholarly journals Bloggers and Deliberative Democracy in Indonesia's Blogosphere

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (28) ◽  
pp. 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Jacky
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
The Public ◽  
Study Support ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

<p>The study of the relationship between the Internet and democracy has produced two main debates. Some studies have said that the Internet has significantly contributed to democracy while others disagree. This study challenged the thesis of Habermas (2006) about the relationship between the Internet and Deliberative Democracy. This study was built on the following propositions: that the Internet causes bloggers to become parasitic, fragmented, and isolated; that it is effective in breaking down authoritarian regimes to create an egalitarian relationship, but it fails as a deliberative medium. This study used the concept of the public sphere and Habermas’ Deliberative Democracy (2006). It also explored the use of 2.0 qualitative methods with a hacking analysis perspective. Moreover, it gained data from the Internet by using the latest version of 2.0 Web and a virtual community. It focused on both discursive and non-discursive construction. The results of this study support only one of Habermas’ three propositions: that the Internet creates egalitarianism. Thus, this study rejects Habermas’ thesis apart from this one proposition. Furthermore, this study recommends that further research be done using the same propositions but on Twitter instead of the Internet.</p>

scholarly journals PASANG SURUT PERPOLITIKAN ISLAM DALAM KANCAH SEJARAH

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-91
Author(s):  
Mansur Mansur
Keyword(s):  
Political Development ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Political Islam ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
The Public ◽  
Politics And Religion ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Islamic Religion ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

This paper discusses the ups and downs of Islamic politics in the historical arena, the politics referred to in this paper is photographing the history of politics at the time of the Caliph or Companions and politics in the history of Islam. Political Islam is often seen as a combination of "religion and politics". The relationship between politics and religion is interrelated and inseparable, although technically and practically the relationship is distinguished, religion is the authority of Shahibu as-Shari'ah, while politics is public / human authority. But these two things go hand in hand just as the Islamic religion developed as a religious and political movement which in turn merged with the "public" state and society. The belief of a Muslim who considers that Islam is something that concerns the faith and politics and is rooted in the holy book of Islam "al-Qur'an" and the hadith of the Prophet, so that Muslims believe that this has been reflected in the teachings of Islam, its history, and political development.

scholarly journals Civil Society and State: A Historical Review

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-42
Author(s):  
Venugopal B Menon ◽  
Chinnu Jolly Jerome
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
New Left ◽  
Historical Review ◽  
World Order ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Strategic Action ◽  
The Face ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Relationship

The article attempts to trace the evolution of the concept of civil society. Drawing from the work of political philosophers from the classical period, the period of renaissance, scientific revolution, the period of Enlightenment in the 18th century, and ideologies from the Marxist and Gramscian discourses, the article demonstrates the shifts in the meaning and implications of the concept, its relations to public spaces, accountability, governance, normative ideals of state and the relationship between the state and its citizens. The article concludes its historical progression with the New Social Movements (NSMs), wherein the civil society became synonymous with strategic action to construct 'an alternative social and world order’, a site for problem solving. Other contenders who put forth a renewed interest in the resurgence of civil society were the New Left, who assigned civil society a role to defend people’s democratic will in the face of state power, and the neoliberals who considered civil society as a site for subversion from authoritarian regimes. The article finally concludes with a call for urgent attention towards reclaiming the authority of the civil society in education scenario.

Power and Public Chambers in the development of civil society in Russia

2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 409-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsti Stuvøy
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
State Control ◽  
The Public ◽  
Starting Point

Embodying a state vision of how civil society ought to function and be designed by the authorities, Public Chambers in Russia have been criticized as means of state control. This state dominance is the starting point in this article, which asks what room to manoeuvre a regional Public Chamber has. Drawing upon fieldwork this article examines how members and local observers of the Public Chamber give meaning to this activity. The analysis assesses the role of state dominance, discussion of routines and responses to local demands, and concludes that these incremental developments form civil society in Russia.

The Operatics of Everyday Life, or, How Authenticity Was Defined in Late Imperial Russia

Slavic Review ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 795-818
Author(s):  
Anna Fishzon
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Recording Industry ◽  
The Public ◽  
Late Imperial ◽  
Celebrity Culture ◽  
Imperial Russia ◽  
Inner Self ◽  
Public Persona ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Fan Letters

In this article, Anna Fishzon explores how the phenomena of celebrity culture and early sound recording contributed to notions of audientic selfhood in late imperial Russia. Public discussions about celebrities like the Bol'shoi Theater bass Fedor Shaliapin helped forge understandings of sincerity and spoke to contemporary concerns regarding the relationship between fame and artifice, the public persona and the inner self. Fishzon suggests that the emergent recording industry penetrated and altered everyday emotional experience, the arena of work, and the organization of leisure, linking gramophonic discourses to celebrity culture and its rhetoric of authenticity and sincerity. In part because Russian audio magazines and gramophone manufacturers heavily promoted celebrity opera recordings, sonic fidelity was equated with the capacity of the recorded voice to convey “sincerity,” understood, in turn, as the announcement of ardent feelings. Fan letters to Shaliapin and Ivan Ershov document these new sensibilities regarding self, authenticity, desire, and emotions.

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