2005/01/01 by Colum Leckey · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Agrarian society #Economic history #Elite #Empire #European Political History Analysis #Historical Economic and Social Studies #History #Law #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Power (physics) #Public administration #Rhetoric #Sociology #Soviet and Russian History #St petersburg #State (computer science) #Virtue
paper · doi:10.2307/3649988
openalex publication_date 2005/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Founded in 1765, the St. Petersburg Free Economic Society was one of imperial Russia's first and most prestigious public associations. Historians have long recognized the society's significance for the empire's agrarian history, but only recently have scholars begun to pay attention to its contributions to Russian public culture. Focusing on the society's daily activities and public practices under Catherine II, this article argues that the organization's dependence on royal and elite protection transformed it into a patronage network that mirrored the hierarchies found in state service. Despite its egalitarian rhetoric, courtiers such as Fedor Angal't wielded the greatest influence by virtue of their elite status while rank-and-file members like Andrei Nartov assumed responsibility for the organization's dayto- day operations. The lived experience of the society underscores the persistence of traditional power relationships in the empire's nascent public culture and illuminates the survival tactics devised by the first generation of Russia's educated public.