Can Alexander Zinoviev Be Considered Nationally Oriented and Conservative? (Critical Notes on the Works by Alexander Zinoviev)

This paper examines the question of whether the Russian thinker Alexander Alexandrovich Zinoviev can be reckoned among nationalist conservatives, and provides a reasoned negative answer. One of the reasons for this is Alexander Zinoviev’s sharply negative and even nihilistic attitude towards the Russian Orthodox Church and historical, pre-revolutionary Russia, which was unthinkable for any real Russian conservative. Therefore, his views could be conditionally labeled as Soviet conservatism. But even here there are nuances that complicate matters greatly, which are discussed in this paper. It is also noted that despite the great hype around the name of Alexander Zinoviev, his creative heritage is still very poorly studied at the moment. The paper briefly considers his creative evolution, his propensity for positivism starting from his dissertation. The pros and cons of his concept of communism as the core of all Alexander Zinoviev’s ideas are analyzed in more detail. The poverty of its basic ideological scheme and its weak prognostic abilities are noted. At the end of the paper, three points are highlighted stating why Alexander Zinoviev cannot be considered a real conservative. Firstly, this is his sharply negative attitude towards historical Russia and Orthodoxy. Secondly, this is the ahistoricism of his project on logical sociology and the positivism associated with it. Thirdly, Alexander Zinoviev became an apologist of the Soviet social system only after it left the stage of history, that is post factum. During the active period of the Soviet social system, Alexander Zinoviev always criticized and satirised it sharply.

1. “Ne ostanovit’sia li?” Iz perepiski N. V. Ustrialova i kniagini L. V. Golitsinoi [“Shouldn’t We Stop?” From the Correspondence of N. V. Ustryalov and Princess L. V. Golitsina]. (1999). Grani, 192, 207–227. [In Russian].

2. Avanesov, S. S., Smirnov, S. A., Speshilova, E. I. (2021). Chelovek u zerkala. Antropologiia avtobiografii [Man at the Mirror. Anthropology of Autobiography]. Saint Petersburg: Aleteiia. [In Russian].

3. Fokin, P. E. (2016). Aleksandr Zinoviev. Prometei otvergnutyi [Alexander Zinoviev. Prometheus Rejected]. Moscow: Molodaya gvardiia. [In Russian].

4. Fursov, A. I. (2002). O velikom voprekiste [About the Great Contradictor]. In Fenomen Zinovieva [Zinoviev Phenomenon] (pp. 40– 64). Moscow: Sovremennye tetradi. [In Russian].

5. Guseinov, A. A. (2022). Ideinoe nasledie A. A. Zinovieva i sovremennost’ [The Ideological Heritage of A. A. Zinoviev and Modernity]. In Filosofiia v politsentrichnom mire. K 100-letiiu so dnia rozhdeniia A. A. Zinovieva. Izbrannye trudy VIII Rossiiskogo filosofskogo kongressa [Philosophy in a Polycentric World. To the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of A. A. Zinoviev. Selected Works of the VIII Russian Philosophical Congress]. Moscow. [In Russian].

6. Leontiev, K. N. (2007). Vladimir Solovyev protiv Danilevskogo [Vladimir Solovyov Against Danilevsky]. In Complete Works and Letters in 12 volumes (Vol. 8, book 1, pp. 316–417). Saint Petersburg: Vladimir Dal’. [In Russian].

7. Mamardashvili, M. K. (1991). Nachalo vsegda istorichno, to est’ sluchaino [The Beginning is Always Historical, that is, By Chance]. Voprosy metodologii, 1, 44–53. [In Russian].

8. Piatigorsky, A. A. (1996). Kak my izuchali filosofiiu. Moskovskii universitet, 50-e gody [How We Studied Philosophy. Moscow University, 50s]. In Selectas (pp. 308–317). Moscow: Shkola “Iazyki russkoi kul’tury”. [In Russian].

9. Pushchaev, Yu. V (2018). Filosofiia sovetskogo vremeni: Ilyenkov i Mamardashvili. Energii ottalkivaniia i pritiazheniia [Philosophy of Soviet Times: Ilyenkov and Mamardashvili. Energy of Repulsion and Attraction]. Moscow: INION RAN. [In Russian].

10. Rozin, V. M. (2022). Lichnost’ i vklad v nauku Aleksandra Zinovieva (razmyshleniia, naveiannye chteniem ego interv’iu zhurnalu “Lichnost’. Kul’tura. Obshchestvo”) [Personality and Contribution to Science of Alexander Zinoviev (Reflections Inspired by Reading His Interview With the Magazine “Personality. Culture. Society”)]. Politicheskaia kontseptologiia, 4, S. 212–220. [In Russian].

11. Vail, P., Genis, A. (2002). Zagovor protiv chuvstv [Conspiracy Against Feelings]. In Fenomen Zinovieva [Zinoviev Phenomenon] (pp. 141–152). Moscow: Sovremennye tetradi. [In Russian].

12. Zinoviev, A. A. (1979). Bez illiuzii [Without Illusions]. Lausanne: L’Âge d’homme. [In Russian].

13. Zinoviev, A. A. (1979). V preddverii raia [On the Eve of Paradise]. Lausanne: L’Âge d’homme. [In Russian].

14. Zinoviev, A. A. (1988). Gorbachevizm [Gorbachevism]. New York: Liberty. [In Russian].

15. Zinoviev, A. A. (1994). Kommunizm kak real’nost’ [Communism as a Reality]. Moscow: Tsentrpoligraf. [In Russian].

16. Zinoviev, A. A. (2000). Ziiaiushchie vysoty [Yawning Heights]. In Collected Works (Vol. 1). Moscow : Tsentrpoligraf. [In Russian].

17. Zinoviev, A. A. (2002). Postsovetizm [Post-Sovietism]. In Fenomen Zinovieva [Zinoviev Phenomenon] (pp. 316–321). Moscow: Sovremennye tetradi. [In Russian].

18. Zinoviev, A. A. (2002). Voskhozhdenie ot abstraktnogo k konkretnomu (na materiale “Kapitala” K. Marksa) [Ascent From the Abstract to the Concrete (Based on the Material of “Capital” by K. Marx)]. Moscow: Institut filosofii RAN. [In Russian].

19. Zinoviev, A. A. (2003). Ideologiia partii budushchego [Ideology of the Party of the Future]. Moscow: Algoritm. [In Russian]. Zinoviev, A. A. (2008).

20. Zapad [West]. Moscow: Astrel’. [In Russian].

21. Zinoviev, A. A. (2010). Nashei iunosti polet [The Flight of Our Youth]. Moscow: Astrel’. [In Russian].

22. Zinoviev, A. A. (2014). Russkaia tragediia [Russian Tragedy]. Moscow: Algoritm. [In Russian]. Z

23. inoviev, A. A. (2023). Russkaia sud’ba. Ispoved’ otshchepentsa [Russian Fate. Confession of the Renegade]. Moscow: Kanon-plus. [In Russian].