D. V.Efremenko

Who Would Grasp Balkans with the Mind? Belov M.V., ed. Historical Politics in the Countries of the Former Yugoslavia. St Petersburg: Nestor-Istorija, 2022

The publication of the collective monograph “Historical Politics in the Countries of the Former Yugoslavia” is undoubtedly an important event both for political studies of historical memory and for Slavic and Balkan studies in Russia. Based on this monograph, D.Efremenko, using the example of the Western Balkan countries, reflects on the importance of the actor approach in memory studies, as well as on the role of historians in the formation of the collective memory of national communities. From his viewpoint, it makes sense to consider the phenomenon of post-Yugoslav “historical revisionism” discussed in the monograph not only as a substantive revision of the historiographic canon of Tito’s era, but also as a politically conditioned paradigm shift — the replacement of this canon with nation-centric historiographies.

According to Efremenko, the texts presented in the monograph clearly indicate that historical narratives still play a crucial role in political discussions, being an integral component of the ontological security of macropolitical communities. In particular, the Kosovo (Vidovdan) myth continues to exert a strong influence on the Serbian political leadership’s decision-making related to the resolution of the conflict in Kosovo and the country’s integration into the European Union. This example demonstrates that problems in the field of ontological security can possess serious consequences for confirming or changing the international status of a country, as well as maintaining reliability and sustainability of alliances and partnerships with other states.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2023-111-4-178-189

Pages: 178-189

100-year Anniversary of Charles Merriam’s Manifesto of Scientific Political Science

The article presents an outline of the biography and the main phases of the scientific, political and teaching activities of Charles E. Merriam (1874—1953), setting the stage for the publication of the Russian translation of his work The Present State of the Study of Politics (1921). The author examines Merriam’s contribution to the development of Political Science in the United States, primarily his New Science of Politics program, aimed at achieving a new quality of political research and teaching discipline, which should not be confined to the narrow framework of purely theoretical reflection. According to Merriam, only the update of methodological tools (in particular, widely borrowing methods from natural sciences, especially biology), productive interaction with other branches of knowledge and a general reorientation to systematic expert support of public administration can ensure the transformation of Political Science into a truly scientific discipline.

The article analyzes the role of Merriam in the formation of the Chicago School of Political Studies, his participation in providing expertise to the public administration, including F.D.Roosevelt’s New Deal. The article demonstrates that, being a product of its time, the canonical text of Merriam has not lost its relevance today, stimulating a new understanding of the criteria for the scientific nature of political knowledge and touching on a number of issues that are still acute for modern political scientists.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2021-100-1-170-182

Pages: 170-182