The Imperial Dimension of Russian Modernisation: A Multiple Modernities Perspective

Abstract

The essay discusses the multiple modernities approach in historical sociology and its relevance for the study of Russian modernisation. From this perspective the imperial dimension of Russian modernisation has been emphasised by Johann Arnason who analyses the modernisation process in pre-revolutionary Russia and the imperial aspect of the Soviet model of modernity. It is argued in the essay that the multiple modernities approach can also be applied to post-communist transformations. The persistence of ‘imperial nationalism’ in contemporary Russia is regarded as a specific legacy of the Soviet model of modernity.