On a Place in Time

The essay is a comment on Larisa Deriglazova’s article “Time Is Out of Joint”: EU and Russia in Quest of Themselves in Time.” The author argues that modernization does not mean an approximation to a certain normative, but the solution of one’s own tasks, which cannot be achieved by means of simple reproduction or extensive growth of what already exists. Whereas the transfer of the European model of modernization to new EU member-states is supported by external control, for Russia the question of political modernization becomes radically more complex, as it implies not only a response to external challenges, but also the establishment of institutions adequate to domestic demands. The European institutions of liberal-democratic consensus, the very model of political participation that has looked triumphant at the end of the 20th century, is now in a deep crisis.