Dependence and underdevelopment in Russia's development

Abstract

Is it relevant to consider the social-economic development of Russia in the terms of dependence and underdevelopnnent which have been applied to low-developed countries? The author responses positively to this question. The countriy's development was conditioned by rivalry with the West and tasks of empire's expansion to the East. Consequently the russian modernization emphasized on the enforced promotion of military-industrial complex in accordance with evolution of western military-technical power. It was specific form of dependent development based upon the imitation of external technical aspects of industrialism neglecting the adequate social - economic mechanisms of its functioning.
The coming of post-industrial/information society in the West has been treated as the global transition from the economic formation of society to the post-economic one which in many respects coincides with Marx's vision of "authentic communism". So the grand failure of Soviet communism had taken place because it could not compete with communist (in Marxian terms) productive forces such as scientific knowledge and information. The postindustrialization subverted industrial production in many regions including Russia particularly by means of "demonstration effect". The Soviet ruling elite was not able to respond to post-industrial challenge and prefered to become "lumpen-bourgeoisie" converting its Power into Property.
The author asserts that in case of Russia the impact of global transformation succeedes to "anti-modernization" (Alain Touraine's term) in all respects: social, economic, political, cultural etc. He estimates the Russian prospects negatively and sees the place of Russia in the next century among the most underdeveloped countries, the recent potential for rapid development notwithstanding.