Russian Question Research Articles

Great Britain and the Russian Question at the Initial Stage of the Paris Peace Conference, 1919—1920

The article is devoted to the debated question of evaluation and attempts of British diplomacy to settle the so-called “Russian problem” on the eve and during the first months of the 1919—1920 Paris Peace Conference. The author reveals that the previous interpretation of London's intentions towards Soviet Russia as exceptionally negative is simplistic and requires revision, taking into account the comparative analysis of previously inaccessible to researchers Russian and British archival records. As a result, the paper demonstrates a much more complex and contradictory dynamics of Soviet-British relations than could be found in modern studies on Britain’s reflection of the Great Russian revolution of 1917—1922.

Summing up: the “Russian Question” and the Formation of a “New World Order” at the Paris Peace Conference

Summing up: the “Russian Question” and the Formation of a “New World Order” at the Paris Peace Conference

Some wheres and whys in bilingual codeswitching: Directionality, motivation and locus of codeswitching in Russian-Hebrew bilingual children

Aims and objectives: Differences in directionality, motivations and locus of codeswitching have been reported for children’s codeswitching, but these constructs have not been subjected to experimental study in order to examine how they may interact. This study investigated these variables in bilingual preschool children’s codeswitching. Methodology: Thirty-two Russian-Hebrew bilingual children (mean age 6;3) performed two tasks: Retelling of narratives manipulated for setting/topic and listener and Conversation with a bilingual adult. Retelling conditions included a Russian story retold to a Hebrew-speaking puppet, a Hebrew story retold to a Russian speaking puppet and a Mixed language story retold to a bilingual puppet. The Conversation task involved responses to questions in Russian, Hebrew and codeswitched speech about holidays and activities at home and in preschool. Data and Analysis: All children’s speech was audio recorded and transcribed using CHILDES conventions for data transcription. Codeswitched utterances were coded for the following: Directionality (Hebrew-to-Russian/Russian-to-Hebrew); Motivation (psycholinguistic/sociopragmatic); and Locus (intra-utterance/cross-speaker). Results: Overall children produced more codeswitching from Russian to Hebrew and did so more for psycholinguistic motivations (to maintain fluency or to overcome difficulties in lexical access). Originality: High rates of codeswitching occurred in this study, ranging from 15% to 22% for Conversation and Retelling, respectively (calculated as codeswitched instances per utterance). This high rate may be attributed to the experimental nature of the tasks, which intended to elicit codeswitching in children’s speech. Significance: Drawing from Green and Wei’s processing model, findings regarding directionality and motivation are discussed in terms of connectivity and activation.

Principle A and feature valuation

Traditional binding theory is largely incompatible with minimalist assumptions. In this paper I propose an analysis of anaphoric binding based on a feature-checking mechanism (Pesetsky and Torrego 2007), by introducing the feature ⟨ρ⟩, a formalization of the reflexivity proposal of Reinhart and Reuland 1993. I argue that the ⟨ρ⟩ feature is responsible for establishing coreference between an anaphor and its antecedent, by being present and valued on reflexives while being unvalued on a higher phrasal head. Valuation of ⟨ρ⟩ under Agree results in the introduction of a λ -operator, which binds the reflexive variable, thereby establishing the coreference between an anaphor and its antecedent. I further demonstrate how this revision of binding theory can derive subject orientation of monomorphemic anaphors, Barss- Lasnik effects, and restrict at which moment of derivation binding theory can apply. In conclusion I show some novel asymmetries observed in wh-dislocated reflexives in English vs. Russian indirect questions.

Russia and the Liberal World Order

AbstractWhile Russian leaders are clearly dissatisfied with the United States and the European Union, they are not inherently opposed to a liberal world order. The question of Russia's desire to change a liberal international order hangs on the type of liberalism embedded in that order. Despite some calls from within for it to create a new, post-liberal order premised on conservative nationalism and geopolitics, Russia is unlikely to fare well in such a world.

“Red Lines” of Modern Geopolitical Confrontations: Role of Political and Legal Values in Hybrid Warfare Era

The article analyses the place of political and legal values (in particular, the principles of international law) in the modern system of international relations. It is stated that Russia artificially creates hotbeds of instability and terrorism around the world to put pressure on certain states. Russia’s unlawful actions have also created a notable international precedent which goes beyond regional or continental security concerns. The author defines three main points: which state became the victim of aggression, who was the aggressor and how other states acted. Some current topical problems on the global diplomatic agenda, notably, concerning the international legal response to the Russian military aggression against Ukraine and acts of state terror-ism all around the world, carried out by Russia within the framework of the hybrid war, are highlighted. Considerations regarding the importance of trust as a vital element of interstate relations, the lack of which provokes conflicts, leads to the encapsulation of states, making it impossible for them to achieve sustainable and progressive development and to solve urgent common issues, are studied. It is noted that by the fourth year of the Russian-Ukrainian War some Western diplomatic circles have started to gradually analyze the Russian question, in particular, regarding the revision of the methodology for responding to Russian actions. The author stresses out that the issue of annexation of Crimea and Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine cannot be removed from the international agenda until the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the just punishment of the aggressor are restored. To prevent the escalation of current negative geopolitical tendencies to the level of uncontrolled, it is necessary to follow a number of fundamental points, in particular the inviolability of the principles of international law, prompt response to obvious violations of this law, the inevitability of legal liability of violators of international law. In this context, the author asserts the necessity to ensure absolute adherence to the principles of international law as “rules of the game” of the geopolitical club and “red lines”, going beyond which generates uncontrolled processes of global scale, as well as the need to maintain international sanctions against the aggressor country – the Russian Federation – and entities, individuals and groups, affiliated with the Putin regime. Keywords: Russian military aggression against Ukraine, international law, political and legal values, principles of international law, diplomacy, foreign policy, national security, geopolitics, hybrid war.

Russia – the land of contrasts

Мало кто обратил внимание на то, что как-то незаметно исполнилось 20 лет с официального возрождения программы йодной профилактики в постсоветской России. В своей регулярной колонке автор вдается в воспоминания, рассказывает о сегодняшней ситуации с йоднойобеспеченностью и пытается ответить на извечный российский вопрос “что делать?”.

Структура исторической колеи России: проблемы методологии


 Владимир Иванович Ильин – доктор социологических наук, профессор, Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет, Сыктывкарский государственный университет; ассоциированный сотрудник, Социологический институт РАН. Адрес: 199034, Санкт-Петербург, Университетская наб., д. 7–9. E-mail: ivi-2002@yandex.ru
 Цитирование: Ильин В.И. (2017) Структура исторической колеи России: проблемы методологии // Мир России. Т. 26. № 4. С. 30–50. DOI: 10.17323/1811-038X-2017-26-4-30-50
 
 Целью данной статьи, продолжающей размышления на темы, которые обсуждаются в монографиях «Россия как цивилизация» и «Нова ли новая Россия?», является попытка уточнить категориальный аппарат, позволяющий интегрировать цивилизационный подход и концепции социальной инерции (зависимости от прошлого пути – path dependency). Цивилизационный подход, возникнув в рамках философии истории, в силу масштаба предмета не склонен вглядываться в эмпирические детали. Сейчас он все активнее проникает в историю, экономику и социологию. Однако сдвиг в предметном поле не подкрепляется разработкой адекватной этим конкретным наукам методологии. В условиях нехватки эмпирических аргументов, выстроенных в соответствии с принципами научной методологии, вопрос о месте России в системе локальных цивилизаций по-прежнему остается предметом веры, поскольку ни одна из спорящих сторон не может привести аргументы, представляющиеся оппонентам убедительными. Главным недостатком существующих исследований данной проблемы остается акцент на методах сравнения, часто допускающих синхронное сравнение стран, находящихся на разных этапах развития одного и того же типа общества, использование произвольно подобранных аналогий, что отвечает логике дедукции, когда факты собираются для иллюстрации теоретической концепции. Неудивительно, что проблематика цивилизационного анализа России, несмотря на полуторавековую историю, больше интегрирована в идеологический, чем научный дискурс. Концепции социальной инерции, возникшие в экономических науках, гораздо более точны и конкретны, но именно в силу этих достоинств они с трудом применимы для тысячелетнего диапазона. В статье предлагаются две группы категорий, которые могут стать неким шагом вперед на пути сближения цивилизационного подхода и концепций зависимости от прошлого пути. Первая группа категорий позволяет анализировать механизмы исторической преемственности периодов одной цивилизации: (1) цивилизационный стержень как совокупность факторов, действующих на протяжении всей истории; (2) историческая колея как реальные формы реакций на них, создающие фундамент для последующих периодов; (3) цивилизационные ловушки как шаги (часто политические), приобретшие необратимые последствия для будущего. Вторая группа категорий – это разные типы колеи, пронизывающие многовековую историю: географическая, геополитическая, политическая, колея собственности, религиозная, ментальная и колея исторической памяти. Данная категориальная сетка дает возможность упорядочить эмпирическую проверку гипотез цивилизационного анализа относительно многовековой преемственности.

The Russian Revolution and the American Left: A Long View from the Twenty-First Century

The Russian Revolution and the American Left: A Long View from the Twenty-First Century

George Eliot's ‘Daniel Deronda’ and the Jewish Question in Russia of the 1870s–1900s

AbstractThis article studies the remarkable popularity of Daniel Deronda, George Eliot's last novel, and its reception in Russia of the 1870s–1900s, in the context of the Jewish question and Russian social, moral, political, literary and cultural life, during the period after 1861 reforms. The article notes the fact of five Russian translations of Daniel Deronda and shows that fiction – Russian translations of foreign fiction included – addressed the most urgent contemporary issues and were seen as an efficient way to educate readers socially and morally. It is also demonstrated how much translation, publishing and critical reception of the novel accorded with the dynamics of the ‘Jewish question’ in Russia. It is noted which aspects of the form and content of the novel were the most discussed by Russian critics.

Independence of the Baltic Countries and the “Russian Question”

Independence of the Baltic Countries and the “Russian Question”

The Russian question in the post-soviet period

The Russian question in the post-soviet period

V. F. Odoevsky’s philosophical and creative heritage as an experience of comprehending the “Russian questions”

V. F. Odoevsky’s philosophical and creative heritage as an experience of comprehending the “Russian questions”

Stalinism and Peasantry. Collection of academic articles and materials of roundtables and panels of the theoretical seminar "The Peasant Question in Russia and World History."

Stalinism and Peasantry. Collection of academic articles and materials of roundtables and panels of the theoretical seminar "The Peasant Question in Russia and World History."

The Romanovs and the Jewish Question in Russia

The Romanovs and the Jewish Question in Russia

Klasycy rosyjscy wobec konfliktu bałkańskiego 1875–1878

The national liberation struggle of the southern Slavic peoples in the second half of the 19th century attracted the attention of Russian society, including writers. The Slavic question and especially the Russo-Turkish War inspired both writers and journalists to reflect on the cardinal problems of the development of Russia itself. The Slavic question turned into the Russian question.

Highlights of the Constitutional Legal Regulation of the National Question in Russia

Highlights of the Constitutional Legal Regulation of the National Question in Russia

Дневник нацистского идеолога и бюрократа Альфреда Розенберга

This article compares two editions (the German–American, English-language edition and the Russian edition) of the war diaries of an influential ideologue of the Nazi Party, Alfred Rosenberg. The author identifies key topics that can be particularly relevant today for readers of this document in Russia and in Ukraine. The analysis is structured by themes such as “the Ukrainian question,” “the Russian question,” “the Holocaust,” “European Fascism,” and “Islam and Pan-Arabism.”

A simple da?: Affirming responses to polar questions in Russian conversation

This article examines affirming answers to polar (yes/no) questions in Russian, that is, responses that confirm or agree with the propositional content of the question. Drawing on a corpus of telephone conversations and using the methodology of Conversation Analysis, I analyze question-answer sequences that are initiated by polar interrogatives whose focal action is to seek information or confirmation of a particular state of affairs. In Russian, a simple affirmation can be accomplished via either a response token (da ‘yes’ or net ‘no’) or a repetition of the question's focal element (“echo repeat”). The article first examines responses that simply affirm the informational content of the question. Then, I analyze three ways in which affirmative responses may resist the question: by conveying an incongruent evaluative stance, an incongruent epistemic stance, or by disattending its action implications. This article sheds light on the organization of questioning and answering in Russian conversation and advances our understanding of agreement as a social action more generally.

On the history of the peasant question in Russia: Memorandum by unknown author "On the liberation of peasants in Russia" with marginaliа of Emperor Nicholas I

On the history of the peasant question in Russia: Memorandum by unknown author "On the liberation of peasants in Russia" with marginaliа of Emperor Nicholas I