Backwardness Phenomenon from the Global History Perspective

Abstract

The aim of the essay is to analyze the concept of backwardness, the process of its resemantization (the change of meanings) in modern global history’s context.

The research methodology stands upon the principles of anti-colonial criticism (multiculturalism) and horizontal historiography (the concept of connections and entanglements).

The scientific novelty. In traditional nationalism’s discourse, backwardness meant a nation’s “inadequacy”, “underdevelopment”, “unhistorical nature”. Since the 1990s, due to the influence of the anticolonial criticism, the concept of backwardness has been perceived as otherness, exclusiveness. Within global history theory, backwardness is interpreted from the perspective of multi-vector historical development, the idea of “multiple modernities”. Thus, any exclusivity in state or nation’s history is perceived as a unique development’s path, an alternative option of the historical norm. The phenomenon of backwardness is verified by the examples of three “peripheral” empires (Spanish, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian) within the 19th century. Spanish historians interpret backwardness as a “cultural” phenomenon and emphasize that the 19th century’s history was defined by liberalism and imperialism, while Spain retained its status as a colonial empire. Russian scholars use it as a synonym to the concepts of norm and normality. They point out that the Russian empire’s history in the 19th century was determined by simultaneously existing backwardness and catching-up modernization. At the same time, backwardness also had political implications, and was perceived as a “special” Russian path. In Ukrainian historiography, the idea of backwardness (“nonhistorical nation”) tends to recognize polyvarietal history, thus denying the Western model of historical development as the only option. Such features of Ukrainian history as discreteness of the statehood, elites’ discontinuities, transparency of cultural boundaries, polyethnicity, which used to be perceived as shortcomings (weaknesses), signs of backwardness, today can be turned into advantages. Ukrainian 19th century is presented by the binary model of backwardness & revival, therefore revival can be reread as a cultural transfer of the ideas, people and technologies.

Conclusions. The concept of backwardness is being reinterpreted and testified to the Eurocentrism crisis. Backwardness, if considered as a tool of modern global history, loses its offensive, diminishing meaning, thus becoming a variant of the norm or a trend of the multi-vector history.