Wayne Dowler – författare

Classroom and Empire tells the story of the politics of alphabets, languages, and schooling in the eastern empire of Russia from 1860 to 1917. Wayne Dowler presents an intriguing cast of characters, including Nikolai Il''minskii, whose method of schooling non-Russian children lay at the heart of nationalist controversy; Ismail Bey Gaspirali, whose new method schools attempted to reconcile Islam with modern secular philosophy and science; Konstantin Pobedonostsev, procurator of the Holy Synod and éminence grise of the reigns of Alexander III and his son Nicholas II; and Sophia Chicherina, feisty defender of the Il''minskii school. Dowler shows us that the problem of schooling non-Russians was unresolved by the fall of the Romanovs in 1917, smouldered through much of the Soviet period, and has re-emerged today as a major source of divisiveness in the Russian Federation.

A pivotal year in the history of the Russian Empire, 1913 marks the tercentennial celebration of the Romanov Dynasty, the infamous anti-Semitic Beilis Trial, Russia's first celebration of International Women's Day, the ministerial boycott of the Duma, and the amnestying of numerous prisoners and political exiles, along with many other important events. A vibrant public sphere existed in Russia's last full year of peace prior to war and revolution. During this time a host of voluntary associations, a lively and relatively free press, the rise of progressive municipal governments, the growth of legal consciousness, the advance of market relations and new concepts of property tenure in the countryside, and the spread of literacy were tranforming Russian society.Russia in 1913 captures the complexity of the economy and society in the brief period between the revolution of 1905 and the outbreak of war in 1914 and shows how the widely accepted narrative about pre-war late Imperial Russia has failed in significant ways. While providing a unique synthesis of the historiography, Dowler also uses reportage from two newspapers to create a fuller impression of the times. This engaging and important study will appeal both to Russian studies scholars and serious readers of history.

A pivotal year in the history of the Russian Empire, 1913 marks the tercentennial celebration of the Romanov Dynasty, the infamous anti-Semitic Beilis Trial, Russia's first celebration of International Women's Day, the ministerial boycott of the Duma, and the amnestying of numerous prisoners and political exiles, along with many other important events. A vibrant public sphere existed in Russia's last full year of peace prior to war and revolution. During this time a host of voluntary associations, a lively and relatively free press, the rise of progressive municipal governments, the growth of legal consciousness, the advance of market relations and new concepts of property tenure in the countryside, and the spread of literacy were tranforming Russian society.Russia in 1913 captures the complexity of the economy and society in the brief period between the revolution of 1905 and the outbreak of war in 1914 and shows how the widely accepted narrative about pre-war late Imperial Russia has failed in significant ways. While providing a unique synthesis of the historiography, Dowler also uses reportage from two newspapers to create a fuller impression of the times. This engaging and important study will appeal both to Russian studies scholars and serious readers of history.

A History of Education in Modern Russia is the first book to trace the significance of education in Russia from Peter the Great’s reign all the way through to Vladimir Putin and the present day.Individual chapters open with an overview of the political, social, diplomatic and cultural environment of the period in order to orient the reader. Dowler then goes on to analyse the aims of education initiatives in each era before considering the ways in which Russians experienced education, both as students and as teachers. Each chapter concludes with an assessment of the outcomes and consequences of education policies in the period, both the successes and failures as well as the impact of education on the cultural, social, economic and ultimately political environments. The chronologically arranged book also traces and then summarises underlying key themes like the tension between an open system of education and an estate-based system; the push and pull between utility and the broader goal of human development; and the effects of centralized, authoritarian control that for much of the period limited local initiative and starved the regions of adequate resources.

A History of Education in Modern Russia is the first book to trace the significance of education in Russia from Peter the Great''s reign all the way through to Vladimir Putin and the present day. Individual chapters open with an overview of the political, social, diplomatic and cultural environment of the period in order to orient the reader. Dowler then goes on to analyse the aims of education initiatives in each era before considering the ways in which Russians experienced education, both as students and as teachers. Each chapter concludes with an assessment of the outcomes and consequences of education policies in the period, both the successes and failures as well as the impact of education on the cultural, social, economic and ultimately political environments. The chronologically arranged book also traces and then summarises underlying key themes like the tension between an open system of education and an estate-based system; the push and pull between utility and the broader goal of human development; and the effects of centralized, authoritarian control that for much of the period limited local initiative and starved the regions of adequate resources.

A History of Education in Modern Russia is the first book to trace the significance of education in Russia from Peter the Great''s reign all the way through to Vladimir Putin and the present day. Individual chapters open with an overview of the political, social, diplomatic and cultural environment of the period in order to orient the reader. Dowler then goes on to analyse the aims of education initiatives in each era before considering the ways in which Russians experienced education, both as students and as teachers. Each chapter concludes with an assessment of the outcomes and consequences of education policies in the period, both the successes and failures as well as the impact of education on the cultural, social, economic and ultimately political environments. The chronologically arranged book also traces and then summarises underlying key themes like the tension between an open system of education and an estate-based system; the push and pull between utility and the broader goal of human development; and the effects of centralized, authoritarian control that for much of the period limited local initiative and starved the regions of adequate resources.

A History of Education in Modern Russia is the first book to trace the significance of education in Russia from Peter the Great’s reign all the way through to Vladimir Putin and the present day.Individual chapters open with an overview of the political, social, diplomatic and cultural environment of the period in order to orient the reader. Dowler then goes on to analyse the aims of education initiatives in each era before considering the ways in which Russians experienced education, both as students and as teachers. Each chapter concludes with an assessment of the outcomes and consequences of education policies in the period, both the successes and failures as well as the impact of education on the cultural, social, economic and ultimately political environments. The chronologically arranged book also traces and then summarises underlying key themes like the tension between an open system of education and an estate-based system; the push and pull between utility and the broader goal of human development; and the effects of centralized, authoritarian control that for much of the period limited local initiative and starved the regions of adequate resources.

Native soil was a mid-nineteenth-century Russian reaction against materialism and positivism. It emphasized the need for people to live their lives and develop themselves naturally, so that class difference might be reconciled, the achievements of the West fused with the communalism and Christian fraternity preserved by the Russian peasant, and the Russian nation united in the pursuit of common moral ideals. The metaphor 'Russia and the West' summarized much of the intellectual and political debate of the period: how Russia should use its indigenous and its 'borrowed' cultural elements to solve the political, economic, and social problems of a difficult period.Professor Dowler presents a detailed study of Native Soil  conservatism from about 1850 to 1880 – its various intellectual facets, its leading thinkers, and its growth and gradual disintegration. In this utopian movement, literary creativity, aesthetics, and education took on special significance for human spiritual and social development. Dowler therefore examines the writings of two of the most gifted exponents of Native Soil – F.M. Dostoevsky and A.A. Grigor'ev – and looks at their circle and the journals to which they contributed in an assessment of their responses to the challenges of the period of Emancipation.

Native soil was a mid-nineteenth-century Russian reaction against materialism and positivism. It emphasized the need for people to live their lives and develop themselves naturally, so that class difference might be reconciled, the achievements of the West fused with the communalism and Christian fraternity preserved by the Russian peasant, and the Russian nation united in the pursuit of common moral ideals. The metaphor 'Russia and the West' summarized much of the intellectual and political debate of the period: how Russia should use its indigenous and its 'borrowed' cultural elements to solve the political, economic, and social problems of a difficult period.Professor Dowler presents a detailed study of Native Soil  conservatism from about 1850 to 1880 – its various intellectual facets, its leading thinkers, and its growth and gradual disintegration. In this utopian movement, literary creativity, aesthetics, and education took on special significance for human spiritual and social development. Dowler therefore examines the writings of two of the most gifted exponents of Native Soil – F.M. Dostoevsky and A.A. Grigor'ev – and looks at their circle and the journals to which they contributed in an assessment of their responses to the challenges of the period of Emancipation.