Adam Smith and the twists and turns of economics in Russia

Abstract

Adam Smith, who celebrated his 300th anniversary in 2023, continues to be popular among modern economists. To understand this enduring popularity, scholars have proposed several hypotheses. The main goal of this article is to present the key explanations for Smith’s centurieslong success among social sciences scholars and economists. The authors pay special attention to analyzing the reasons for Smith’s importance in Russian economic discourse. The analysis identifies the main approaches to understanding Smith’s popularity among Russian and postSoviet economists. First, the paper demonstrates that one of the common interpretations connects Smith’s contemporary popularity with his role as a precursor of Karl Marx, whose ideas continue to influence the Russian community of academic economists (RCAE). Second, Smith’s unconventional approach allowed him to easily fit into almost any socio-economic twists Russia’s history is rich of. Third, it is believed that Smith’s success among RCAE is due to his non-instrumental mode of argumentation, which is popular among Russian economists, many of whom haven’t yet mastered modern instrumental methods. Having acknowledged the validity of these perspectives, the authors put forward a hypothesis that links Smith's appeal in Russia, among other factors, to his immense authority. This credibility acts as an intellectual shield and reduces the risks for scholars exploring issues that fall outside of the dominant discourse in different historical periods. These and other hypotheses, as well as recent approaches to interpreting Adam Smith’s works, are considered on the basis of the articles written for this journal issue by the participants of the conference “Economics, Society, and Culture: Adam Smith’s Legacy and Modernity”.