Annual Newsletter of the Slavic Research Center, Hokkaido University
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| No.19, February 2012 | |||
| The Fift h International Symposium of Comparative Research on Major Regional Powers in Eurasia “Alliances and Borders in the Making and Unmaking of Regional Powers” |
| Global COE Program “Reshaping Japan’s Border Studies” | Joint International Symposium “Grammaticalization and Lexicalization in the Slavic Languages” |
| Essay | ||
| IWASHITA Akihiro | ||
Session Entitled “Eurasianism Past and Present: Views from the East ” Held at the "Third East Asian Conference of Slavic-Eurasian Studies” in Beijing on August 27-28, 2011
Russian exceptionalism as a Eurasian power is rooted in the ideas of Evraziistvo or Eurasianism, a body of doctrines formulated in the 1920s and 1930s by anti-Bolshevik Russians. Many of these intellectuals and scholars had fled the Revolution and in West-European emigration formulated what was effectively a new ideology of Russian nationalism. Such was the power and evocative nature of the early Eurasianists’ ideas that they have been subject to consideration in post-Soviet Russia with renewed interest and enthusiasm.
In recent years, there has been a corresponding resurgence in scholarly engagement with Eurasianism; however, this has mainly been from an “Atlantic” perspective, focusing on its political implications as an ideology of continental expansionism. In contrast, this panel, which included Chinese, Japanese, British, and Russian scholars, explored Eurasianism from a broader variety of intellectual, geographical, and chronological positions, particularly from Asian perspectives towards Eurasianism and understandings of Asia in Eurasianist thought.
In this panel, Yuxing Wu (Sun Yat-Sen University) and Shohei Saito (Hokkaido University / Masaryk University) discussed Classical Eurasianism from an Asian viewpoint. Paul Richardson (University of Birmingham / Hokkaido University) discussed a case study of the Southern Kuril Islands / Northern Territories and what it reveals about Eurasianism and contemporary Russian identity. Kenso Yamamoto, who works in Korea, discussed racism and fear of Asia in Russian thought. Andrei Popov (Moscow State University) and Yukiko Kuroiwa (Iwate Prefectural University) provided a discussion of the papers. Popov made comments on Classical Eurasianism and Russian thought. Kuroiwa mainly made comments on Richardson’s paper and pointed out that Alexsandr Dugin’s idea is not “Eurasianism.” These discussions clarified the difference between Classical Eurasianism and Neo Eurasianism and made us realize that there are various ways of researching Eurasianism (see Popov’s review on this session: http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/rp/group_06/achievements/index. html#20111005).
We hope that the “Eurasian” background of the participants can help provide diverse and innovative perspectives on this fascinating subject. It is also hoped that this panel will further academic cooperation and collaboration on Eurasianism among various countries. This session was a really superb opportunity to know recent trends in research on Eurasianism in individual countries, but it made me keenly realize that I have to develop my practical Russian skills, especially speaking, to communicate effectively with Chinese researchers. If I have a chance to attend a conference in China in the future, I will present my paper in Russian. However, I have also to mention that the English Camp, which was held by the International Training Program, was useful for learning how to give a presentation to an audience in English and I was able to make the acquaintance of Yujun Feng (China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations) who participated in this Camp as a guest. He kindly introduced me to Wu (see http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/itp-hp/itp-index.html).
Finally, I attended this conference subsidized by the GCOE Border Studies Education Program. I would not have succeeded in attending and organizing this panel without many people’s kindness. I would like to express my gratitude to the professors, staff, and colleagues who cooperated with me and gave comments and advice on my research paper. Thank you very much again.
Saito Shohei