zapadnichestvo

Noun

zapadnichestvo (uncountable)

1. (historical, rare) An 19th-century intellectual ideology which saw Russia's development as dependent upon the adoption of Western European technology and liberal government.
   • In general, however, this leftist wing of zapadnichestvo became more Russian in character , and offered a more original interpretation of Russia's path of development than the liberal versions.1999, Jeremy Smith, “Beyond the Limits: The Concept of Space in Russian History and Culture”, in Studia historica, volume 62, SHS, →ISSN, page 18
   • According to the spiritual father of zapadnichestvo in the early nineteenth century, Pyotr Chaadaev, Russia had in no way participated in the development of humankind, and it had merely distorted everything that had been elft over from the progress achieved elsewhere.2012, Christer Pursainen, “A Short History of Catching Up”, in Christer Pursainen, editor, At the Crossroads of Post-Communist Modernisation: Russia and China in Comparative Perspective, Springer...

   Synonyms:

   Westernism