‘Path Dependence’ and the Problem of Modernization from Above

Abstract

Nataliya Pliskevich — Senior Researcher, Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences. Address: 26, Maronovskii Lane, Moscow, 119049, Russian Federation. E-mail: ons@naukaran.ru

Although Russia’s cultural and institutional specificity (or the Sonderweg argument) is a popular account of its failing attempts at modernization, this article revisits this argument from a slightly different perspective. In particular, it draws attention to other failed mobilizational breakthroughs throughout Russia’s history. All of these breakthroughs were largely motivated to achieve military superiority, rather than broader social and economic development. Mobilizations were achieved by means of the temporary resurrection of traditionalist values and institutions, which retarded social and cultural progress. As a result social and cultural progress constantly lagged behind the technological progress. Moreover, each mobilization scarred the social structure by leaving various kinds of institutional traps. These traps are extremely difficult to remove through reform, and they are a major threat to successful modernization. The article closely examines the institutional traps which emerged during the rule of Peter the Great, the mobilizational breakthroughs of the Soviet Union and Russia’s market transition. It is argued that a closer synthesis is needed between the current ‘path dependence’ explanations of Russia’s development and the theory of institutional traps.