''Pochvennichestvo'' ( ; rus, почвенничество, p=ˈpot͡ɕvʲɪnnʲɪt͡ɕɪstvə, roughly "return to the native soil", from почва "soil") was a late 19th-century movement in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

that tied in closely with its contemporary ideology,

Slavophilia Slavophilia () was a movement originating from the 19th century that wanted the Russian Empire to be developed on the basis of values and institutions derived from Russia's early history. Slavophiles opposed the influences of Western Europe in Rus ...

History

The Slavophiles and the ''Pochvennichestvo'' supported the complete

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure Economic, social and cultural rights, economic and social rights, civil and political rights, po ...

of serfs, stressed a strong desire to return to the idealised past of Russian history, and opposed

Europeanization Europeanisation (or Europeanization, see spelling differences) refers to a number of related phenomena and patterns of change: *The process in which a notionally non-European subject (be it a culture, a language, a city or a nation) adopts a numbe ...

. They also advocated a complete rejection of the

nihilist Nihilism () encompasses various views that reject certain aspects of existence. There have been different nihilist positions, including the views that life is meaningless, that moral values are baseless, and that knowledge is impossible. Thes ...

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, eco ...

and

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

movements of the time. They laid a primary focus on changing Russian

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

by the humbling of

the self In philosophy, the self is an individual's own being, knowledge, and values, and the relationship between these attributes. The first-person perspective distinguishes selfhood from personal identity. Whereas "identity" is (literally) samen ...

and on social reform through the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

, rather than through the radical programs of (for example) the

Westernizer Westernizers (; , ) were a group of 19th-century intellectuals who believed that Russia's development depended upon the adoption of Western European technology and liberal government. In their view, Western ideas such as industrialisation needed t ...

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

. The Slavophiles and the ''Pochvennichestvo'' differed in that the former detested the Westernisation policies of Emperor

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

(), but the latter praised what they saw as the benefits of the notorious ruler who maintained a strong

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

mentality for what became sloganised under Emperor Nicholas I () as "

Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality (; Transliteration, transliterated: Pravoslávie, samoderzhávie, naródnost'), also known as Official Nationalism,Riasanovsky, p. 132 was the dominant Imperial ideological doctrine of Russian Emperor Nichol ...

". Another major difference was that many of the leaders of ''Pochvennichestvo'' and their supporters adopted a militant

anti-Protestant Anti-Protestantism is bias, hatred or distrust against some or all branches of Protestantism and/or its List of Christian denominations#Protestant, followers, especially when amplified in legal, political, ethic or military measures. Protesta ...

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics and opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and its adherents. Scholars have identified four categories of anti-Catholicism: constitutional-national, theological, popular and socio-cul ...

and

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

stance. The movement had its roots in the works of the German philosopher

Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( ; ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a Prussian philosopher, theologian, pastor, poet, and literary critic. Herder is associated with the Age of Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. He wa ...

(1744–1803), who focused primarily on emphasising the differences between peoples and regional cultures. In addition, it rejected the

universalism Universalism is the philosophical and theological concept within Christianity that some ideas have universal application or applicability. A belief in one fundamental truth is another important tenet in universalism. The living truth is se ...

the Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a European intellectual and philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained through rationalism and empirici ...

period. ''Pochvennichestvo'' originated in the early 1850s with the "young editors" working at the journal ''

Moskvityanin ''Moskvityanin'' (Москвитянин, "The Muscovite") was a monthly literary review published by Mikhail Pogodin in Moscow between 1841 and 1856., , , , It was the mouthpiece of the Official Nationality theory espoused by Count Sergey Uv ...

''. The most prominent Russian intellectuals who founded the movement were

Apollon Grigoryev Apollon Aleksandrovich Grigoryev ( rus, Аполло́н Алекса́ндрович Григо́рьев, p=ɐpɐˈlon ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲjɪf, a=Apollon Alyeksandrovich Grigor'yev.ru.vorb.oga; 20 July 1822 – 7 Octobe ...

(1822–1864),

Nikolay Strakhov Nikolay Nikolayevich Strakhov, also transliterated as ''Nikolai Strahov'' (; 16 October 1828 – 24 January 1896) was a Russian philosopher, publicist, journalist and literary critic. He shared the ideals of Pochvennichestvo and was a longtime f ...

(1828–1896),

Nikolay Danilevsky Nikolay Yakovlevich Danilevsky (; – ) was a Russian naturalist, economist, ethnologist, philosopher, historian and ideologue of pan-Slavism and the Slavophile movement. He expounded a circular view of world history. He is remembered also ...

(1822–1885) and

Konstantin Leontyev Konstantin Nikolayevich Leontiev, monastic name: Clement (; 25 January 1831 – 24 November 1891) was a conservative tsarist and imperial monarchist Russian philosopher who advocated closer cultural ties between Russia and the East against w ...

(1831–1891).

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

(1821–1881) also came to support such views, as expressed in his 1873 novel ''Demons''. The ideology was later adopted by Emperors Alexander III () and

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

().

Notes

References

"Loose and Baggy Spirits: Reading Dostoevsky and Mendeleev."
-

Michael Gordin Michael Dan Gordin (born November 3, 1974) is an American science historian and Slavist. Born in New Jersey, Gordin studied at Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in 1996 and a doctorate in 2001. From 2003 he was at Princeton University, ...

, May–June 1999.

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. {{Conservatism navbox Anti-Catholicism Anti-Protestantism Antisemitism in the Russian Empire Russian nationalism Society of the Russian Empire Political theories Far-right politics in Russia Russian philosophy Political movements in the Russian Empire

History

See also

Notes

References