Oriental Studies (May 2018)
The De Facto Modernization: Structural Deformations of Russia’s Socio-Cultural Environment on the Eve of the Second Russian Time of Troubles
Abstract
The article defines the problem of criteria for the Russian modernization accelerated by war needs in 1914-1917 and consequences of such acceleration. It underlines that the existing deductive methods once inherent to Soviet historiography are of hardly any use when it is required to adequately describe and estimate multiple events of the Red Time of Troubles, though it is evident enough that there were a number of relatively autonomous scenarios of descent into chaos. Thus, the paper aims to analyze certain historical subjects against the background of the all-Russia drama of 1917. Deconstruction of these discourses shall also facilitate understanding of the general nature of 1917 collisions. Studies of the history of the Muslim feminist movement in Russia seem to be a most promising line of research. The ideas of gender equality were not that popular with the Muslims, but the very fact of their existence could be interpreted as an indicator of a crisis of Russian Mohammedans’ traditional social structure initiated by the Great War that contributed to the further qualitative modernization of the society. Women’s congresses became an innovational form of social communication and introduced a requirement of gender equality to the agenda of the all-Russian Muslim movement. The short-lived period of rapid growth over, the women’s movement within the ummah was opposed by male Muslims who considered the women’s activities untimely. At the same time, Bolshevist decrees went far beyond any feminist projects as such and - as social tensions escalated - predetermined the rollback of Muslim women’s social activities: existential modernization projects were removed from the agenda; practices of social bricolage were initiated behind the fence of utopia, the former aiming to reduce the public spirit to zero. Still, the spiritual emancipation of women in Islam held back in the early 20th century is relevant enough for the 21st century when traditional Islam has faced some radical subcultures and extremist movements the ideology of which happened to be popular with the female public. And though Islamic feminism in national and foreign historiography is still a provoking trend rather than a socio-political movement deserving scholarly attention, the early 21st century might become a starting point in the systematic struggle of Russia’s Muslim women for their civil and social rights.
