Description
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2023 Marc Raeff Book Prize; A 2023 REFORC Book Award Longlist TitleThis book highlights the main features and trends of Russian “political” thought in an era when sovereignty, state, and politics, as understood in Western Christendom, were non-existent in Russia, or were only beginning to be articulated. It concentrates on enigmatic authors and sources that shaped official perception of rulership, or marked certain changes of importance of this perception. Special emphasis is given to those written and visual sources that point towards depersonalization and secularization of rulership in Russia. A comparison with Western Christendom frames the argument throughout the book, both in terms of ideas and the practical aspects of state-building, allowing the reader to ponder Russia’s
differentia specifica.
Trade Review“The book by Endre Sashalmi… is an erudite and thoughtful exploration of Russian thinking on the nature of power, authority, and self-determination over the period of some two and a half centuries that culminated in the era of Peter the Great. The book is based on a wide array of primary sources and provides an indispensable survey of Western and Russian historiography. Steeped in comparative and contextual methodology, the book offers an impressive synthesis of trajectories of the understanding of state and sovereignty in the West and in early modern Russia. … This book makes an important contribution to the growing body of research on the history of political ideas and political language in early modern Russia, rather than yet another survey of Russian political thought. While eschewing a conventional pre- and post-Petrine divide, Sashalmi offers a much-needed prequel to works on the eighteenth century, especially those by scholars associated with the recently shuttered German Historical Institute in Moscow.”
— Olga Tsapina, Ab Imperio
"E. Sashalmi has chosen a fascinating subject, and he has shown all its richness in a long term perspective, as well as its current relevance."
— Pierre Gonneau, Revue des études slaves (translated from the French)
“Russia Notions of Power and State meticulously reconstructs medieval and early modern sources to provide a coherent account of the Russian state and power that is shown to be different from European concepts and unique to Russian civilization. It helps explain why the rule of law is arbitrarily applied in Russia, why territorial integrity is considered so vital to Russian national interests, and why Russian rulers are not just leaders but embody the state itself in the person and actions. For those interested in what makes the Russian state distinctive and different from its western counterparts, Russian Notions of Power and State provides a clear picture why and helps us better understand Russian action and strategy in our increasingly fractured and contentious world.”
— Lee Trepanier, VoegelinView
“Sashalmi’s book gives a comprehensive analysis of the Russian notions of power and state, and provides critical analyses of the terminologies used by Western scholars. It is a valuable resource for academicians, researchers and students who study the history of the Russian state structure.”
— Ayse Dietrich, International Journal of Russian Studies
“[T]he book under review by a leading Hungarian specialist on medieval and Petrine Russian history has many insights to offer. … Although written by a civilian rather than a legal historian, this is a volume that belongs in an advanced international law collection.”
— William E. Butler, Jus Gentium (Vol. 8, No. 1)
“Sashalmi’s work meticulously chronicles the genesis and evolution of Russia’s modern state, and the notions behind its meaning and power—becoming an essential reference point for scholars of the long eighteenth century.”
— ECRSA 2023 Marc Raeff Book Prize Committee
Table of ContentsIntroduction. Explanation of Aims, Genre, and Terminology
PART ONE. Russia and Europe: Clarification of Terms and the Problem of the State
1. Issues of Methodology, Reception, and the Benefits of a Long-Term Approach
2. Territoriality, the Name, and the Nature of the Polity: From the Principality of Moscow to the Russian Empire
3. The Idea of the State in Western Christendom in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Era
4. The Role of Metaphors and Allegorical Personifications in the Development of the Concept of the State in Western Christendom
5. The Meaning(s) of European Perspective
6. The Birth and Meaning of the “Russian State Narrative”
7. The Consequences of the State Narrative: The Discovery of Gosudarstvo by Russian History-Writing
8. Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Muscovite Perceptions of Ruling Power: Characteristics and Methodological Aspects of a Comparison with Western Christendom
9. The Problem of Samoderzhavie
PART TWO. Notions of Power and State in the Context of “Proprietary Dynasticism”: Russia and the Western Perspective
10. Richard Pipes’s Patrimonial Interpretation of Russia Reconsidered in the Light of “Proprietary Dynasticism”
11. Aspects of Rulership and Their Relation to Each Other in Early Modern Europe and Russia: Proprietary, Office, and Divine Right
12. Divine Right of Kings and Divine Right of Tsars: Aspects and Lessons of a Comparison
PART THREE. The Origins of Theory of Law and State in the Works of Feofan Prokopovich: An Intellectual from the Kievan Nest in the Service of Peter the Great
13. Turning Points in the Life of Feofan Prokopovich, and His Most Important Political Works
14. Preliminary Notes on Prokopovich’s Theory of Law and State
15. Power, State, Law, Sovereignty, and Contractualism in Feofan Prokopovich’s Writings
16. Female Allegorical Personification of Russia during the Reign of Peter the Great and His Successors: Visual and Written Sources, and the Notion of State
Epilogue: The Importance of Gosudarstvennost′ in Contemporary Russia
Bibliography
Index
