Russian Liberalism in the Face of Crisis

Abstract

The development of liberalism in Russia occurred under substantially different conditions from those in the West. The history of liberalism in the West is already a century old; not only has it acquired there a sufficiently mature theoretical form, but it has even been translated into reality as civil society and the law-governed state. Liberalism cannot be reduced to any specific moral and political movement, but it can be understood as a special type of civilization, in contrast to traditional civilization. In Russia, however, liberalism evolved always under the influence of the highest achievements of Western liberal ideas; it remained an opposition movement, opposing the dominant values of society and supporting the country's transformation into a liberal civilization.