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Date: | Fri Mar 31 17:19:09 2006 |
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=================== HES POSTING ======================
I`d like to add something to this long censorship thread.
I was happy to see that Kondratief`s case is well-known. And I must say
that the History of Russian Economic Thought is the continuous row of
examples of such (more or less severe) censorship.
The first quarter of 19 century in Russia was the period of liberty and
the political economy of Adam Smith became popular among intellectual
elite as the argument for democracy and freedom (that is, the abolition of
monarchy and serfdom -- two great evils of Russia). This period was ended
with Decabrists` Rebellion (1825) and the beginning of the long period of
severe censorship -- all ideas of freedom (including theories of
industrial and labor freedom) were cut from printed papers. All professors
in Universities and Colleges can see a censor at there lectures and if
they told something about Smith`s or somebody else ideas of `laissez fair`
they had an examination in the intelligent service.
--------
In the middle of 19th century socialist and communist ideas became famous
in Russian society and they were also banned. Such talented economist and
thinker as N.G.Chernishevsky (the translator and commentator of Mill`s
Principles) in his economic articles had to use the term `old backward
economists` to designate the classical school and the term `new
progressive economists` to designate the socialist school -- the censors
missed it but educated public understood real sense of this `old` and
`new`. At last Chernishevsky was arrested for his ideas, put in the
pillory and sent to Siberia in exile.
One joke is known about his being there. In exile a dissenter usually
lived in a small village under supervision of a gendarme which was sent
from Saint-Petersburg and periodically (once at several months) changed
for security. After some time intelligent service found that returning
from Chernishevsky`s company each gendarme was more clever than before...
-----------
At the end of 19th and beginning of 20th centuries we can find
other type of censorship. Marxist ideas became very popular
in our society and all admirers of Marx split into two camps:
- `legal marxism` which approved many ideas of Marx except his
appeal to rebel. This camp was constituted from several professors
(Struve, Tugan-Baranovsky etc.) and was not prohibited.
- `revolutionary marxism` which liked inevitable character of communist
revolution and try to speed it in Russia. This camp was constituted
from revolutionists (Plehanov, Lenin etc.) and was prohibited.
But the `legal marxists` also had problems - censors visited their
lectures. And, for example, Tugan-Baranovsky, though being very popular
among the students, was not able to work at Saint-Petersburg
University for several years (1899-1905). After February Revolution (1905)
he was allowed to lecture but soon (in 1913) he was again pushed
out of the University.
-------------
After the Revolution of 1917 things turned to the opposite. Gradually all
non-marxist thinkers found themselves prohibited and only marxists became
the allowed.
In 1917 `old` economists still tried to proceed their intellectual life -
for example, B.Brutskus was able to publish the article in which he proved
the ineffective character of command economy (long before the history and
F.Hayek did that, by the way). But soon many economists were exiled from
the country.
Even in the communist party several dissenters in the economic questions
were obliged in the treason and executed (N. Buharin is the best example).
---------------
Several economists of 1920s with neutral political position were also
repressed. One example - Kondratieff. His theory of long waves were
contradictory to marxist beliefs of permanent crisis of capitalism. L.
Trotsky even wrote an article in `Pravda` against Kondtratief. Eventually
the later was repressed.
Another example - A.V.Chayanov - the brilliant theorist of cooperation
and the researcher of Russian peasants. His very literate ideas on cooperation
(supposing effectiveness of small farms) were contradictory to communist`
will to put our peasants into large collective farms (`kolhoz`s) and exploit
them in such manner. In 1930 Chayanov was arrested, prosecuted for organizing
the so-named `Peasant-Labor Party` (Kondratieff was the other `leader` of
this `party`), imprisoned, after several years exiled to Kazahstan but
in 1937 arrested again and executed.
---------------
In the second half of 20th century our economic science was dead. The
exception was some mathematical economists like Kantorovich or Novozhilov.
Their optimum of the command economy was similar to optimum of perfect
competition in the market economy. But they had to hide this neoclassical
content of their theories in the veil of mathematics. So as our communist
censors were weak in this science they failed to find these `enemies`.
Kantorovich and Novozhilov even get Lenin Prize in the 1965.
Also to be legal Kantorovich and Novozhilov had to reconcile their
theories with marxism and devote multiple pages to these useless
`foundations`. Some concepts similar to neoclassical ones were hidden in
different words. For example, the concept of opportunity cost which is
necessary for an optimum theory and surely was known by Kantorovich and
Novozhilov was introduced into their analysis as a technical term with a
distinct name.
---------------
Now Russian economic thought is free. But for a while, of course.
American-style mainstream economics is penetrating in our Universities.
Soon we will get the situation similar to the American one. Another
orthodoxy, another dissenters and following censorship.
Maxim Storchevoy
Saint-Petersburg State University
Department of Economics
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