TBK: Annotation of "Voluntary Associations in Tsarist Russia"

CLT 361 prompt 2

Voluntary Associations in Tsarist Russia

Science, Patriotism, and Civil Society

By: Joseph Bradley

            Voluntary Associations in Tsarist Russia is about the civil history of Russia written by Joseph Bradley, a professor of history at the University of Tulsa.  Bradley observes the role of voluntary associations in the development of Russian civil society.  Russia was growing based on the model of the European society.  In his introductory chapter, he allows the reader to have a better understanding of the Russian society by clarifying that civil societies still existed in other European countries during 18^th and 19^th century.  The societies were concerned with similar things such as interest in science, education, and the spread of knowledge.  Bradley explains that the Russian society had increased in “talking to itself” and growing discussion about Russia’s future. During the tsarist system, members of voluntary associations focused more on serving the “people” rather than serving the “tsar”.  Bradley concludes that Russians still needed the laws and other institutional safeguards for civil society. I chose to talk about this book because it shows us what Russia was like, during the time when Dostoevsky wrote The Brothers Karamazov.   

This book had an introduction, and 6 chapters, followed by a conclusion.  Here’s a list:

Introduction

o   Russian Associations

o   Beginning of the 20^th century

Chapter 1: European Societies and the State

o   Russia in Comparative Perspective

o   19^th and 18^th century

Chapter 2: The Application Science

o   The Free Economic Society and the Moscow Agricultural Society

o   1765-1855      

Chapter 3: The Quest for National Identity

o   The Russian Geographical Society

o   Late 18^th century

Chapter 4: Patriotism and Useful Knowledge

o   The Society of Friends of Natural History

o   19^th century

Chapter 5: Government and the Public Trust

o   The Russian Technical Society and Education for Industry

o   2^nd half of the 19^th century

Chapter 6: Advocacy in the Public Sphere

o   Scientific Congress

o   1800s

Conclusion

o   An Unstable Partnership

o   Latter part of the 18^th century