HRC SEMINAR

It is frequently assumed that liberalism had a short-lived springtime in 19^th century Russia as an integral aspect of the thought of a remarkable generation of the country’s intelligentsia. So the argument goes, since that time its fate has been as an ineffectual voice on the margins of mainstream politics. The talk challenges this view, arguing that the pan-European cluster of concepts that help todefine liberalism have remained a feature of Russian research and debate across the last two hundred years, including under the governance of President Vladimir Putin.