Against Culturism
Reconsidering Stalin on Nation and Class
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12428795 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Roland Boer (0000-0002-8355-2737, University of NewcastleUniversity of ChinaChina, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 247-273 |
| Publication date | 2015-10-19 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1075-1262 • E-ISSN: 1876-3324 |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/18763324-04203002 |
| OpenAlex | W1868166755 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 14 |
This article argues that the key to Stalin’s early theoretical work on the national question may be read as an attack on culturism – the propensity to identify an intangible ‘culture’ (often with religious factors) as the basis for collective identity. Although his criticism is directed at a number of social democratic organisations at the turn of the twentieth century, it also has pertinence for today due to the persistence of culturist assumptions. Two factors are important in his criticism. The first is to define ‘nation’ in order to sideline the culturist position, although his own definition is not without its problems. The second tackles the question of the structure of the state: does one begin with ‘national culture’ or with class? Stalin proposes that class is the determining factor, which then enables a very different approach to ‘national culture’. The unexpected result is that the unity provided by a focus on the workers and peasants produces both new levels of cultural diversity and enables a stronger approach to ensuring such diversity. The approach undertaken in this article pays careful attention to Stalin’s theoretical and philosophical arguments as they appear in his written texts
Aesthetics · Class (philosophy · Criticism · Democracy · Diversity (politics · Epistemology · Identity (music · National identity · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · Law · Philosophy · Soviet and Russian History
The formation of the Soviet Union
The Affirmative Action Empire
The Revenge of the Past
National-Cultural Autonomy and 'Neutralism'
Michael G. Smith, Language and Power in the Creation of the USSR, 1917–1953. Berlin/New York
Empire of Nations
Stalin and the national question
A Radical Worker in Tsarist Russia
The Jews of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union as a Work-in-Progress
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,11 |
| Citation span | 2017 - 2017 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |