Modernization from the Other Shore: American Intellectuals and the Romance of Russian Development

by David C. Engerman

From the late nineteenth century to the eve of World War II, America's experts on Russia watched as Russia and the Soviet Union embarked on a course of rapid industrialization. Captivated by the idea of modernization, diplomats, journalists, and scholars across the political spectrum rationalized the enormous human cost of this path to progress. In a fascinating examination of this crucial era, David Engerman underscores the key role economic development played in America's understanding of Russia and explores its profound effects on U.S. policy.

American intellectuals from George Kennan to Samuel Harper to Calvin Hoover understood Russian events in terms of national character. Many of them used stereotypes of Russian passivity, backwardness, and fatalism to explain the need for--and the costs of--Soviet economic development. These costs included devastating famines that left millions starving while the government still exported grain.

This book is a stellar example of the new international history that seamlessly blends cultural and intellectual currents with policymaking and foreign relations. It offers valuable insights into the role of cultural differences and the shaping of economic policy for developing nations even today.

410 pages, Hardcover

First published January 15, 2004

Reviews

[Frank Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at how American intellectuals (although Engerman doesn't acknowledge it, overwhelmingly of the Left) justified and celebrated the horrific economic modernization of Russia under Lenin and Stalin. Everyone from John Dewey to economist (and later Senator) Paul Douglas praised the "Soviet Experiment" as a useful example to America, even as millions were starving in Communist-engineered famines. In 1932, a year in which about 7 million Soviet peasants starved to death, economist Stuart Chase asked "Why should Russians have all the fun remaking a world?" Horrifying.