{"product_id":"autocracy-in-the-provinces-9780804725828","title":"Autocracy in the Provinces","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis book explores the possibilities for rich and varied social, cultural, and political development under the rule of an autocratic state. Seventeenth-century Muscovite society was theocentric, highly traditional, largely illiterate, and deeply dependent on the state in all aspects of life, and therefore does not at all fit Western definitions of a civil society. Nevertheless, Muscovites found interstices in the overarching autocratic culture in which to conduct their own affairs as they wished. It is this arena of early-modern social autonomy that this book investigates, focusing on the nature and limits of autonomous activity among a small but important part of Muscovite society, the provincial gentry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe author situates Muscovite history within a comparative framework, demonstrating that seventeenth-century Russia was neither backward nor peculiar, but developed its own variant of the concurrent state-building processes of Western European monarchies. The author’s comparisons enable us to understand and appreciate what the gentry of the Muscovite provinces did and thought, illuminating how they typified early-modern petty nobilities, notably in attempting accommodation with rising states and carving out autonomous spaces within and beneath state control.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Valerie A. Kivelson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48291295953147,"sku":"9780804725828","price":85.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/9780804725828_3db30f0e-c5d6-4a1f-9ee8-83df469312fb.jpg?v=1772482389","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/autocracy-in-the-provinces-9780804725828","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}