2024 (21), №1

Exploring Academician Storch’s “The Doctrine of Civilization” in the Context of Western and Russian Economic Thought

For citation: 

For citation: Avtonomov, V. S. (2024). Exploring Academician Storch’s “The Doctrine of Civilization” in the Context of Western and Russian Economic Thought. AlterEconomics, 21(1), 6–19. https://doi.org/10.31063/AlterEconomics/2024.21-1.2

Abstract:

The article deals with Heinrich Storch’s theory of internal goods found in his Course of Political Economy (1815), which expands beyond tangible goods to include intangible elements essential for societal well-being and social development. As the first Russian economist and a member of the Academy of Sciences, Storch challenged the views of Smith and Say, who limited productivity to the creation of material goods through labor. Storch gained widespread recognition in Europe, becoming a pioneering Russian economist to make a mark in the West. His influence extended to notable figures like F. List and C. Dunoyer. Storch’s theory was shaped by specific Russian circumstances, notably his strong opposition to serfdom. Storch’s theory illustrates the interplay between Western and Russian economic thought explored in this article. Within this framework, ideas emanate from the West, are adapted to Russian conditions, and subsequently wield influence over Western economists.

PDF full
Downloaded: 26

Vladimir S. Avtonomov — Dr. Sci. (Econ.), Corresponding Member of RAS, Professor, National Research University Higher School of Economics; Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations of RAS; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8169-729X (11, Pokrovsky Bulvar, Moscow, 109028, Russian Federation; 23, Profsoyuznaya St., Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation; e-mail: vavtonomov@hse.ru).

Avtonomov, V. (2022). West-Russia-West: Early Interaction in Economic Thought. Cases of Storch and Chernyshevsky. In V. Avtonomov, H. Hagemann (Eds.). Russian and Western Economic Thought: Mutual Influences and Transfer of Ideas (pp. 15–26). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99052-7_2

Avtonomov, V. S. (2020). Zapad-Rossiya-Zapad: transfer ekonomicheskikh idey [West-Russia-West: The transfer of economic ideas]. IV Rossiyskiy ekonomicheskiy kongress «REK-2020». Tom II. Tematicheskaya konferentsiya «Metodologiya, istoriya ekonomicheskoy mysli i ekonomicheskaya istoriya» (sbornik materialov) [IV Russian Economic Congress REC-2020. Volume II. Thematic conference “Methodology, history of economic thought and economic history” (collection of materials)]. Moscow, Russia. (In Russ.)

Avtonomov, V. S. (2021). West–Russia–West: Early cases of interaction in economic thought. Russian Journal of Economics, 7 (1), 9–18. https://doi.org/10.32609/j.ruje.7.55458

Avtonomov, V., & Hagemann, H. (Eds.) (2022). Russian and Western Economic Thought: Mutual Influences and Transfer of Ideas. Springer.

Barnett, V. (2004). The Revolutionary Russian Economy, 1890–1940. Ideas, Debates and Alternatives. London, New York: Routledge.

Blyumin, I. G. (1940). Ocherki ekonomicheskoy mysli v Rossii v pervoy polovine XIX veka [Essays of economic thought in Russia in the first half of the XIX century]. Moscow, Leningrad, the USSR: the USSR Academy of Sciences Publishing House, 286. (In Russ.)

Dmitriev, A. L., & Khovanov, N. V. (2013). Vospriyatie idey klassicheskoy shkoly politekonomii:
A. K. Shtorkh i N. A. Polevoy [Perception of the ideas of the classical school of political economy:
A. K. Storch and N. A. Polevoy]. In I. I. Eliseeva, A. L. Dmitriev (Eds.), Vzaimosvyazi rossiyskoy i evropeyskoy ekonomicheskoy mysli: opyt Sankt-Peterburga [Relationships between Russian and European economic thought: The experience of St. Petersburg] (pp. 115–145). St. Peterburg, Russia: Nestor-Istoriya Publishing House. (In Russ.)

Dmitriev, A. N. (2005). Heinrich von Storchs Werk aus russischer Sicht. In H. Rieter, L. Širokorad,
J. Zweynert (Hg.) Deutsche und russische Ökonomen in Dialog (S. 71–100). Marburg: Metropolis Verlag. (In German)

Dunoyer, C. (1846). De la liberté du travail. Paris: Librairie de Guillaumin. (In French)

Gloveli, G. D., & Minaeva, E. A. (2023). The Critical and Non-Critical Smithianism of Heinrich Storch, or the Right and Left Hands of the “System of Natural Freedom”. Voprosy teoreticheskoy ekonomiki [Issues of Economic Theory], 1, 32–45. https://doi.org/10.52342/2587-7666VTE_2023_1_32_45 (In Russ.)

List, F. (2017). Natsional’naya sistema politicheskoy ekonomii [National System of Political Economy]. Moscow, Chelyabinsk, Russia: Sotsium, 456. (In Russ.)

Marx, K. (1987). Teorii pribavochnoy stoimosti [Theories of Surplus Value]. Part I. Moscow, the USSR: IPL. (In Russ.)

Mukhina, V. (2018). Spiritual Production — Essential Condition for Development of Mankind’s Consciousness and Spirituality. Razvitie lichnosti [Development of Personality], 3, 10–16. (In Russ.)

Normano, J. (1945). The Spirit of Russian Economics. New York: John Day Co.

Rentrup, K. (1989). Heinrich von Storch, das “Handbuch der Nationalwirtschaftslehre” und die Konzeption der “inneren Güter”. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag. (In German)

Shirokorad, L. D. (2013). Vliyanie nemetskoy ekonomicheskoy nauki na razvitie politicheskoy ekonomii v Rossii [The influence of German economic thought on political economy in Russia].
In I. I. Eliseeva and A. L. Dmitriev (Eds.), Vzaimosvyazi rossiyskoy i evropeyskoy ekonomicheskoy mysli: opyt Sankt-Peterburga [Relationships between Russian and European economic thought: the experience of St. Petersburg] (pp. 89–114). Saint-Petersburg, Russia: Nestor-Istoriya Publ. (In Russ.)

Shtein, V. M. (1948). Ocherki razvitiya russkoy obshchestvenno-ekonomicheskoy mysli XIX-XX vekov [Essays on the development of Russian socio-economic thought in XIX–XX centuries]. Leningrad, the USSR: Leningrad State University Publishing, 357. (In Russ.)

Shtorch, A. (2008). Kurs politicheskoy ekonomii, ili Izlozhenie nachal, obuslovlivayushchikh narodnoe blagodenstvie. Razmyshlenie o prirode natsional’nogo dokhoda [Course of political economy, or an exposition of the principles that determine the people’s well-being]. Moscow, Russia: Publishing House Economic Newspaper. (In Russ.)

Svyatlovskiy, V. V. (1923). Istoriya ekonomicheskikh idey v Rossii. T. 1: Merkantilizm, fiziokratizm, klassicheskaya shkola i ee razvetvleniya [History of economic ideas in Russia. Vol. 1: Mercantilism, physiocratism, the classical school and its branching]. Petrograd, the USSR: Nachatki znaniy. (In Russ.)

Zweynert, J. (2007). Istoriya ekonomicheskoy mysli v Rossii 1805–1905 [A history of economic thought in Russia: 1805–1905]. Moscow, Russia: HSE Publishing House, 409. (In Russ.)