Lev Gumilev: His Pretensions as Founder of Ethnology and his Eurasian Theories

Inner Asia ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergei Panarin ◽  
Viktor Shnirelman

AbstractThis paper takes a critical look at the work of the extraordinarily popular historian Lev Gumilev. Writing in late Soviet times, Gumilev has become virtually a cult figure in Russia after his death. He took up the ideas of the Eurasianists of the early twentieth century, according to whom Russia's destiny is to be a Eurasian power, and he reconfigured them as a ‘scientific’ theory of ethnos. The ethnos is supposed to be a ‘biological’ entity determined by its place in the natural environment, but at the same time, inspired by a few innovative leaders, each ‘ethnos’ has its special time of intense flowering (which Gumilev called ‘passionary’). The article examines the contradictions in Gumilev's theories and its methodological flaws. It endswith a discussion of the political implications ofGumilev's popularity in post-Socialist Russia. He is not only admired by semi-educated people but is also legitimised by sections of the academy (a university is named after him in Kazakhstan). It is argued that his work lends a spurious credence to nationalismand anti-semitism.

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Tom Villis

G. K. Chesterton's anti-Semitism has attracted much scholarly attention, but his views on Islam have largely passed without comment. This article situates Chesterton's writings in relation to historical views of Islam in Britain and the political, cultural and religious context of the early twentieth century. Chesterton's complex and contradictory opinions fail to support easy conclusions about the immutability of prejudice across time. His views of Islam are at times orientalist and at other times critical of imperialism and elitism. As well as drawing on medieval Catholic ideas about the “heresy” of Islam, Chesterton also links Islam with Protestant Christianity. From another perspective, his views of Islam draw on liberal traditions of humanitarian interventionism and democratic patriotism. Finally, he also used Islam as a symbol of a corroding modernity. This study suggests the need for a historically sensitive genealogy of the evolution of anti-Muslim prejudice which is not predetermined by the politics of the early twenty-first century.


2002 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 625-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEAN H. DELANEY

This article reexamines early twentieth-century Argentine cultural nationalism, arguing that the movement's true significance rests in its promotion of a vision of Argentine nationhood that closely resembled the ideal of the folk nation upheld by German romanticism. Drawing from recent theoretical literature on ethnic nationalism, the article examines the political implications of this movement and explores the way in which the vigorous promotion of the ethnocultural vision of argentinidad by cultural nationalists served to detach definitions of Argentine identity from constitutional foundations and from the ideas of citizenship and popular sovereignty. It also challenges the accepted view that Argentine cultural nationalism represented a radical break with late nineteenth-century positivism. Positivist ideas about social organicism, collective character and historical determinism all helped paved the way for the Romantic vision of nationhood celebrated by the cultural nationalists.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 71-79
Author(s):  
Serhii Svitlenko

The relevance of this topic is seen in the fact that its study provides an opportunity to deepen the understanding of the underdeveloped problem of perpetuating the historical memory of Taras Shevchenko – a symbol of the Ukrainian nation's struggle for social and national freedom as an important factor in opposing the imperial regime. Tsarism by methods of ideological, gendarmerie-police, censorship pressure in every way prevented the activation of conscious Ukrainians in the early twentieth century. The aim of the study is to study the perpetuation of the memory of Taras Shevchenko in the Ukrainian national movement of the Dnieper region in the early twentieth century. The results of the article are that based on the study of archival and published documents, journalistic materials of the press and memoirs, various methods of legal and illegal activity of the Ukrainian national movement in preserving the historical memory of Taras Shevchenko were reconstructed. It is emphasized that the progressive public widely celebrated the 40th anniversary of Kobzar's death in the press. In the early twentieth century Ukrainian activists raised the issue of erecting a monument to Shevchenko, continued the tradition of visiting the tomb of the Ukrainian poet, tried to perpetuate his memory in toponymy, participated in Shevchenko's memorial services, resorted to illegal gatherings in honor of Kobzar, mentioned him during meetings and communication in among the intelligentsia. The originality and scientific novelty of the article in the production and development of insufficiently researched plot on historical Shevchenko studies, actualization and conceptualization of various concrete-historical material. Conclusions were made on various forms and methods of struggle to preserve the memory of Taras Shevchenko, which contributed to the establishment of national consciousness among Ukrainians, strengthened the political tendency in the Ukrainian national movement.


Author(s):  
William K. Malcolm

Mitchell’s first two novels are examined as works deploying the medium of imaginative literature for introspection and analysis of his own past. In reverse chronological order they recreate the narrative of his childhood and early adulthood, in the course of which they present a state of the nation critique of early twentieth century Britain. The forthright verisimilitude of the social realism is in keeping with the philosophical nihilism prevailing in the inter-war years, with the political responses of mainstream parties and of radical splinter groups such as the Anarchocommunist Party appearing unable to change society for the better. Mitchell’s technical experimentation with metafiction and intertextuality indicates the scale of his literary ambition, while his proto-feminist sympathies are marked by his reliance on female protagonists.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-558
Author(s):  
Roger Cotterrell

The second edition of Santi Romano’s book, The Legal Order, now appearing in its first English translation (2017), is a pioneer text of legal pluralism. Its interest lies in its extreme radicalism and in the fact that, although it is written by a lawyer, its argument has many important political implications and addresses core conceptual issues in contemporary sociolegal studies of legal pluralism. The social and political context of Romano’s book in early twentieth-century Italy is far from being solely of historical interest. Issues that surrounded his juristic thinking in its time resonate with important political and social issues of today.


Author(s):  
F. A. Gayada

The article examines the political views and practices of Russian liberals in the early twentieth century. Russia’s political destiny of this period directly depended on building constructive relations between the authorities and society. Liberal ideas had a significant impact on the educated public. At the same time, the constructive cooperation between the liberals and the government was the most important condition for the possibility of application of these ideas in domestic political practice. The article examines the political experience of the two largest liberal political parties in Russia – the Cadets and the Octobrists. The author comes to the conclusion that the Russian liberal politician of the early twentieth century could not get out of the role of an idealist oppositionist. He was incapable of recognizing the existing realities and the need for political compromises, which were often perceived as a sign of impotence or immorality. The liberals perceived themselves as the only force capable of bringing Russia to the right, «civilized» path. In the opinion of the liberals, this path was inevitable, therefore, under any circumstances, the liberal movement should have retained its leading role. In the spring of 1917, the liberal opposition was able to defeat its historical enemy (autocracy), but retained power for a very short time. The slaughter of the state machine, which the liberals themselves did not intend to preserve, led them to defeat. Thus, the state was the only guarantor of the existence of a liberal movement in Russia. 


Author(s):  
Benjamin A. Schupmann

The Introduction analyzes both how the popular appeal of the Nazi and Communist parties posed a dilemma for Weimar democracy and how Schmitt thought this dilemma illustrated the broader problem mass democracy posed for twentieth-century constitutional democratic states. The dilemma begged the question of whether the will of the people could be legitimately constrained. The Introduction contextualizes Schmitt’s analysis of this dilemma by reconstructing nineteenth- and early twentieth-century debates in German jurisprudence about the nature of valid law, arguing that Schmitt’s thought emerged out of an anti-positivist movement. This Introduction also assesses some of the problems facing scholarship of Schmitt, including his occasionalism and anti-Semitism. While acknowledging how damning these charges are, it argues that Schmitt’s state and constitutional theory can be separated from his personal failures and that his thought provides a valuable and original solution to the problems modern mass democracy poses.


Author(s):  
Stefanie Affeldt

This historical chapter investigates two examples of racist political consumerism in early-twentieth-century Australia. It found expression in a locally particular form known as the White Sugar campaign, which declared consumption of cane sugar a moral duty for everyone in support of White Australia. Meanwhile, the Buy Australian-Made campaign called on Australian consumers to express their national pride by consuming locally manufactured products. Both campaigns drew on broader logics of commodity racism that, praising white supremacy and subscribing to ideologies of national progress, welded together everyday culture with the political programme of the time and contributed to the emergence of an imagined racist community of consumers.


Author(s):  
Mikhail Simov

rule. Against the present geopolitical situation on the Balkans and in the context of Bulgarian-Russian relations, 3 March — the day when the San Stefano Peace Treaty of 1878 was signed which is also Bulgaria’s national holiday — customarily precipitates political comments and controversial statements of government officials. While Bulgarian-Russian political relations in the last quarter of the nineteenth century were rather complicated, they became the backdrop of the shaping of the tradition of celebrating the Liberation Day; the commemorative activities and interpretation of the day’s significance were closely interwoven with the political trends and the ambitions of the governments in Sofia. The paper examines the process of establishing the tradition of celebrating the Liberation Day in Bulgaria in the context of the dynamics of the Bulgarian-Russian political relations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century


Author(s):  
A. T. McKenna

This chapter details Levine’s early life, from his birth to his initial work as a film exhibitor, distributor, and promoter. Levine grew up in the horrible poverty of Boston’s West End, and the details of his early life are placed into the historical context of early twentieth-century Boston. As the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Levine not only experienced poverty but also anti-Semitism, and these experiences helped to shape the man he would become. Levine’s numerous early business ventures are also explored, as are his early days as a movie exhibitor and promoter and the importance of his marriage to Rosalie.


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