Analysis of the Problems of Economic Development in the Writings of the Narodnik Economists

The main purpose of the paper is to develop a comprehensive vision of the narodniks’ economic literature as part of the global economic thought. The study examines narodniks’ interpretation of the underdevelopment and dependency issues in Russian society at the end of the 19th century. For the first time in historical and economic literature, narodniks’ ideas are analyzed in terms of peripheral capitalism. The research depicts obvious signs of similarities in problematics and methodology between structuralists and the narodnik economists. Furthermore, the author provides the integrated comparison of political recommendations made by narodniks and structuralists. The methodological basis of the current research consists in the synthesis of abstract-logical and historical approaches. The study revealed that the works of narodnik economists contain not only an original understanding of Russian economic performance, but also an anticipation of the modern direction of studying third world countries - the theory of peripheral capitalism.