The Law in Russia: A Variation on a European Theme or Sui Generis?

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

The proposed roundtable will discuss the nature of Russian law. Participants will be divided between those who view Russia as a variation on a European theme and those who view it as having a distinctive legal culture. Historiographically, this debate stems from disagreements between Martin Malia and Richard Pipes. Malia interpreted Russian culture as part of a uniform European gradient, with weaker institutions, lower urbanization and literacy rates, and less resolute adherence to the rule of law the further one traveled eastward. By contrast, Pipes discerned a radically different political culture in Russia, which tended toward preference for authoritarian rule and disregard for the law. In recent years, scholars across the spectrum have conducted detailed research into Russian law, ranging from Nancy Kollmann's Crime and Punishment in Early Modern Russia (2012), which emphasizes the positive functionality of Russian legal culture, to Jonathan Daly's Crime and Punishment in Russia from Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin (2018) with its emphasis on the weakness of legal culture despite continuous efforts at reform. The proposed panel will explore the nature of Russian law, the evolution of Russian law over the past four centuries, historical contextualization of this evolution, and as much as possible comparisons with other countries and regions.

Sub Unit

• History: Russian and Eurasian, 1800-1924

Chair

• Jane Burbank, New York U

Roundtable Members

• Sergei Antonov, Yale U

• Jonathan W. Daly, U of Illinois at Chicago

• Nancy S. Kollmann, Stanford U

• William Eric Pomeranz, Woodrow Wilson Center, Kennan Institute