Some Questions of Genesis and Typology of Russian Liberalism

Abstract

The article raises questions fundamental for the study of the genesis, development and typology of
Russian liberal thought, such as: Do liberal teachings have a national specificity (ie, whether national
liberal models exists)? Is there an invariant of the liberal doctrine and of the liberal socio-cultural
project? Is Russian liberalism genetically «secondary» in relation to Western liberalism? Could a
supporter of the concept of “slavofilism” be a liberal? What is the correlation between liberalism and
religion? How do “liberty” and “order” correlate? These and other issues are addressed by the author
in the context of the formation and development of Russian liberalism in the 18th–20th centuries.