The Russian State and its Universities: A History of the Present (original) (raw)

The article offers a broad historical overview of the university policy of the Russian state. It suggests that such a general picture could shed some fresh light not only on the role of the state in shaping the Russian university model throughout two and a half centuries, but also on the way of its functioning as the means of knowledge production and transmission. The wide chronological range of the overview primarily aims at singling out the major phases of this policy and at sketching its main directions. Five such phases are distinguished: 1) University as a project of enlightened monarchs (1724-early nineteenth century); 2) University as a state enterprise aimed at modernization (long nineteenth century); 3) University as a socialist enterprise (1918-1991); 4) University as a post-socialist enterprise (1991-early 2000s); and finally 5) the Russian university model reconsidered (ca. 2005-2012). The article's narrative is structured chronologically in accordance with these phases, highlighting major characteristics of each.