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«IZVESTIYA IRKUTSKOGO GOSUDARSTVENNOGO UNIVERSITETA». SERIYA «POLITOLOGIYA. RELIGIOVEDENIE»
«THE BULLETIN OF IRKUTSK STATE UNIVERSITY». SERIES «POLITICAL SCIENCE AND RELIGION STUDIES»
ISSN 2073-3380 (Print)

List of issues > Series «Political Science and Religion Studies». 2023. Vol 45

Controversial Aspects of the Claim of Colonialism as the Main Factor in Western European Civilization

Author(s)
P. L. Popov, A. A. Cherenev, V. G. Saraev, D. A. Gales
Abstract
The article deals with the assertion, characteristic of modern culturological and political Russian discourse, according to which the main source of prosperity for Western European civilization (Western countries) is the exploitation of non-European countries conquered in the colonial era. Weaknesses of this statement are revealed. World scientific leadership, especially in the field of methodology and establishing a connection between theory and practice, was achieved by the West even before the start of colonial expansion. Non-European and peripheral European empires (Spanish, Portuguese, Ottoman, Chinese) did not independently switch to the scientific and technological development of the modern type. In a number of countries of Western Europe in the Middle Ages, a historically stable system for the preservation and dissemination of knowledge was formed: universities and previous structures – monastic schools, libraries, scriptoriums, which had no analogues in other regions of the world. The possibility of colonial expansion required certain preconditions; the position is substantiated, according to which such prerequisites were in the military-technological sphere and military thought, but not in the field of psychology. It is noted that the lessons of the history of the systemic success of the West are especially relevant in the current political and economic conditions and lie in the need to emphasize education, science, and a technological economy as factors in the development of society.
About the Authors

Popov Petr Leonidovich, Candidate of Sciences (Philosophy), Senior Research, Laboratory of Theoretical Geography, V. B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS, 1, Ulan-Batorskaya st., Irkutsk, 664033, Russian Federation, e-mail: plp@irigs.irk.ru

Cherenev Aleksei Anatol'evich, Candidate of Sciences (Geography), Senior Research, Laboratory of Geo-Resource Studies and Political Geography, V. B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS, 1, Ulan-Batorskaya st., Irkutsk, 664033, Russian Federation, e-mail: tcherenev@irigs.irk.ru

Saraev Vladimir Grigor'evich, Candidate of Sciences (Geography), Senior Research, Laboratory of Economic Geography and Territorial Planning, V. B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS, 1, Ulan-Batorskaya st., Irkutsk, 664033, Russian Federation, e-mail: soclab@irigs.irk.ru

Galyos Dmitry Anatol'evich, Leading Engineer, Laboratory of Cartography, Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing, V. B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS, 1, Ulan-Batorskaya st., Irkutsk, 664033, Russian Federation, e-mail:d.gales@yandex.ru

For citation
Popov P.L., Cherenev A.A., Saraev V.G., Gales D.A. Controversial Aspects of the Claim of Colonialism as the Main Factor in Western European Civilization. The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series Political Science and Religion Studies, 2023, vol. 45, pp. 118-127. https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2023.45.118 (in Russian)
Keywords
West, colonialism, prerequisites, scientific and technological superiority, knowledge preservation system.
UDC
911.37+329.1/.6
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2023.45.118
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