Paul Grenier: “Link To Recording: Russia’s National Idea” [at Simone Weil Center]

Subject: Link to recording: Russia’s National Idea (S. Weil Center)
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2021
From: Paul Grenier <psgrenier@gmail.com>

In case you missed it, here are links to the recording of today’s seminar on the Russian National Idea:

SimoneWeilCenter.org: simoneweilcenter.org/conferences

On YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=b_yMM7606XI

Thursday, Oct. 28
What is Russia’s National Idea?
A discussion with Marlene Laruelle, author of Is Russia Fascist?

Discussants:
Anatol Lieven
Nicolai Petro
Paul Robinson
Paul Grenier (moderator)

About the Event: Marlene Laruelle is one of our leading scholars of the Russian domestic political order, perhaps especially as regards those parts of it that are on the right. Laruelle’s recently published book (see Paul Robinson’s review), does not find the Russian state to be plausibly ‘fascist’, but instead to be ‘illiberal’ or ‘postliberal.’ Far from closing the matter, this leaves open a range of crucial questions. Can a ‘postliberal’ Russia still be compatible with ‘the West’? What kind of Russian regime might, even in principle, be considered ‘legitimate’ from the perspective of those outside Western actors who, for the past decade almost, have appeared hostile to all things Russian? Further, as can be seen from the Russian president’s recent lengthy address at the Valdai Conference, President Vladimir Putin has just recently renewed his embrace not only of the relatively liberal Russian philosopher Nicholas Berdyaev, but also the far more conservative Ivan Ilyin and the Eurasianist Lev Gumilyev. What does this augur for Russia’s relation with the West – and, indeed, for the regime’s relationship with its people and intelligentsia? Does Putin’s recent speech require a rethinking of Laruelle’s conclusions, or, to the contrary, does it confirm them?