The Eurasianism concept: Russian vs Western perspectives

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the concept of Eurasianism in the context of two approaches: Russian and Western. It will focus on how the idea of Eurasia has evolved over time first among Russian emigrants in Czechoslovakia, France and the USA in the period between the two world wars (P. Savitskii, N. Trubetskoy, G. Vernadsky), later – from the late 20th century in the USSR and in Russia itself (L. Gumilev, A. Dugin), and finally today, in the framework of Western social sciences (K. Hann). The aim of this paper is to give an indication of how this concept has served at different times and how its content has changed depending on the personality of the researcher and his worldview. The novelty of the approach is in contrasting the Russian and Western concepts of Eurasianism. The Russian perspectives speak of Eurasia within the framework of the Russian Empire or within the framework of the Soviet Union. The Western perspective is much wider than the Russian one and covers Europe and Asia. It was formed in the context of socio-anthropological research as an attempt to explain the processes taking place in post-communist countries, but it was also criticised. The fundamental question concerns its professional status – is it merely an ideological construction or does it have scientific substance?