THE COLONIAL PROJECT OF THE EMPIRE: THE ROMANOV STATE AND ITS JEWISH SUBJECTS

Abstract

Abstract
 Introduction. The rethinking of the imperial heritage in Ukraine has once again become relevant in light of the current Russian-Ukrainian war. Jewish studies are one of the areas of humanitarian knowledge that this process has embraced. The "Jewish question" formulated by the imperial establishment in the "long XIXth century" is considered as one of the colonial projects of the Russian Empire. The research aim is to present this project in its main characteristics, to compare its development with the context of socio-economic, cultural and political changes in society. An important aspect of the study is also to enlighten changes in historiography, paying attention to the authors who covered the relationship between the imperial authorities and Jewish subjects. The new approach of the study is the proposed methodological, the use of postcolonial theory and subaltern studies in the research of the Jewish population of the Russian Empire. The approach allows to outline the peculiarities of imperial policy in the Ukrainian lands, the south of the empire, and to emphasize the subjectivity of the Jewish population in its relations with the authorities. Conclusions. Nevertheless, it was a colonial project which ideology, practices, and language can be described as orientalist. In the "long XIXth century," two periods have been distinguished within the dialog between the empire and the Jews. For the first period, despite the empire's regional diversity, the assimilation of the Jewish population was declared. The ideological foundation for its practices was the traditional Judeophobia, supported by the Orthodox Church. In the second stage, a democratization of society and the emergence of civil institutions pushed the bureaucracy to a project of emancipation aimed at the Jews of the empire. At the same time, the political stage of nation-building processes in the south of the empire and the spread of modern anti-Semitism were contradictory factors on the path of Jewish emancipation.