Russian Political Economy from Utopia to Social Engineering

Abstract

According to Otto Neurath (1919), "Utopias [are to be] set alongside the constructions of engineers, and one might with full justice call them constructions of social engineers...Utopias were relegated to the history of economic theory, whereas they belong to the theory itself, just as the construction of new bridges and aeroplanes belong into the theory of civil or mechanical engineering." Following Neurath's definition of utopia and social engineering, we explore the contributions of a series of Russian economists and statisticians in the turn of the 19th and 20th century.

Keywords: Russia, political economy, utopie, social engineering, planning, history of ideas

JEL Classification: B14, B16, B24