Republicanism in Western Europe and Russia, the Case of Comparative Studies of Medieval City Communes

Venice International University, San Servolo Island, November 8, 2013

The workshop is intended as a meeting place for researchers of city communes in Russia and Western Europe. By "republicanism," we understand the classical tradition of thinking about Res Publica, which – after the works of Skinner, Pettit, Pocock, van Gelderen etc. – has become in political theory the main (but also freedom-asserting) alternative to liberalism. The workshop will concentrate, however, on comparisons between two clearly "republican" cases of Russian medieval city communes – those of Novgorod and Pskov – and will try to use them as a mirror to illuminate the general European dynamics of city- and state-building at the time.

Scholars from European University at St. Petersburg, Università Iuav di Venezia, Università di Padova and Università Ca' Foscari will participate.