Liberal Narodniks

A school of thought which represented the interests of the Russian peasant petty-bourgeoisie, which arosein the 1870s and culminated in the 1890s.

The main theorists of the liberal Narodniks include V. P. Vorontsov, N. K. Mikhaylovsky, S. N. Yushakov, N. F. Danielson and others. Some of them were closely associated with the founders of Marxism and had made contributions to the spread of Marxism in Russia, but did not really accept Marx's doctrine. In the 1880s and 1890s, they often invoked Marx's views, yet strenuously denied their significance for Russia. In The Fate of Capitalism in Russia, Vorontsov even held that capitalism in the West was a historical process, while in Russia it is rather a transplantation, an imitation. The Russian peasantry was the principal productive force in the national economy, operated its economy "not according to the laws of European political economy", but to meet its own needs, and it did not need capitalist industry, banks and railroads. The survival of capitalism depended not only on the domestic market but also on the international market; Russian capitalism, which grew up under artificial protection, had only a domestic market and therefore could not develop into efficient production on a large scale, but could only remain a system of exploitation. According to Vorontsov, the capitalist form of organization was caught in a vicious circle in Russia, where the development of capitalist production led to the poverty of the people, which endangers the survival of this industrial form. Russia then had no foundation to develop capitalism, and all attempts to cultivate capitalism in Russia would be in vain.

The liberal Narodniks held that capitalism would not work in Russia and doubted the idea that the village community was the germ and foundation of socialism, placing Russia's hopes on the consolidation and development of "people's production", i.e., the peasant economy. They held that the "people's production" was an economic trend opposed to capitalism, which enabled the working class to avoid the scourge of capitalism and to obtain all the benefits of a healthy and prosperous life. For this reason, they advocated that the intellectuals should have stopped the revolutionary struggle and form an alliance with the liberals to urge the Tsar government to take measures such as adjusting the land rent and reorganizing the “Agricultural Bank”, so as to "revive the people's economy" and improve the conditions of peasants.

They stood on the position of the Russian peasant petty-bourgeoisie, which opposed both the remnants of serfdom and the development of capitalism. Their dreams were preserving the mode of small production forever, allowing the peasants to obtain the largest possible share of land, paying as little ransom as possible, and enjoying full independence in culture, law and other aspects, so as to avoid the sufferings caused by capitalism. But the wheels of Russia's historical development had completely crushed these illusions.