Philosophical and Cultural Interpretations of Russian Modernisation / Edited by Katja Lehtisaari, Arto Mustajoki © 2017 – Routledge. 210 pages. In this book the expert international contributors attempt to answer questions such as: How far is it possible to attribute change in contemporary Russia as due to cultural factors? How does the process of change in cultural institutions reflect the general development of Russia? Are there certain philosophical ideas that explain the Russian interpretation of a modern state?

This edited volume elaborates on processes of Russian modernisation regarding a wide range of factors, including the use of modern technology, elements of civil society, a reliable legal system, high levels of education, equality among citizens, freedom of speech, religion and trade. The main focus is on the Putin era but historical backgrounds are also discussed, adding context. The chapters cover a wide spectrum of research fields from philosophy and political ideas to gender issues, language, the education system, and the position of music as a constituent of modern identity.

Throughout the book the chapters are written so as to introduce experts from other fields to new perspectives on Russian modernisation, and de-modernisation, processes. It will be of great interest to postgraduates and scholars in Philosophy, Politics, IR, Music and Cultural Studies, and, of course, Russian studies.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction chapter: Dimensions of Russian culture and mind

[Tatiana Larina, Arto Mustajoki, Ekaterina Protassova]

2. Kant and Russian idealism – a litmus test of modernisation

[Vesa Oittinen]

3. Soviet Modernisation and its Legacies from the Perspective of Civilisational Analysis

[Mikhail Maslovskii]

4. A Morphology of Russia? The Russian Civilisational Turn and its Cyclical Idea of History

[Kåre Johan Mjør]　

5. The Russian Orthodox Church Today – Transformations Between Secular and Sacred

[Elina Kahla]　

6. The end of the Russian intelligentsia? Conceptual changes in the context of post-Soviet Russia’s modernisation process.

[Jutta Scherrer]

6.a Appendix: Integrum analysis

[Hanna-Maaria Luoto]

7. Universities for Modernising Russia

[Yury Zaretskiy]

8. Post-Socialist Neoliberal? Education reform in Russia as a socially interpreted process

[Elena Minina]

9. Educating the new listener – classical music and Russian modernisation

[Elina Viljanen]

10. Cultural barriers of the Russian modernization

[Nadezhda Lebedeva]

11. ‘New Women’ Modernising Russia

[Kirsti Ekonen and Irina Iukina]

12. Public discussion on information society in Russia

[Katja Lehtisaari]　

13. Preconditions for Russian modernisation: a media analysis

[Veera Laine and Arto Mustajoki]