Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2007
From: Vladimir Shlapentokh <shlapent@msu.edu>
Subject: New Book
Contemporary Russia as a Feudal Society: A New
Perspective on the Post-Soviet Era
Palgrave Macmillan, 2007
Book Description
The book offers a theoretical discussion of the feudal model and a preliminary application of the model to post-Soviet Russia. In addition to a review of the feudal model as an ideal type, the author explains the analytical benefits of drawing comparisons between countries and across historical contexts. Specifically, contemporary Russia is compared to Western European countries during the Middle Ages and to the Soviet period in Russian history.The book is devoted to illuminating the most important political, social and economic characteristics of contemporary Russian society.
The table of contents:
The Failure of the Integrative-System Approach in Post-Soviet Russian Studies * The Segmented Approach and Feudal Model for the Study of Post-Soviet Russia * Weakness of the State * Oligarchs and Corrupt Bureaucrats: The Purchase of Political Power * The Oligarchic Ideology and Its Opposition to the Liberal and Totalitarian Ideologies * The Royal Domain: The Thin Line between the Nation's Assets and the President's Private Wealth * The Local Barons after the Soviet Collapse: Ideology and Practice (1989-1996) * The Local Barons under Putin's Moderate Feudalism (2000-2006) * The Precariousness of Property in Contemporary Russia and the Middle Ages * Personal Relations as a Core Feature of Feudalism * Private Security: A Typical Feudal Phenomenon.