Nacionalizam i seljačka modernost: modernizacijske ideje Stjepana Radića
NATIONALISM AND THE PEASANT MODERN: THE MODERNIZATION IDEAS OF STJEPAN RADIĆ

Summary/Abstract: The author analyzes the sociological positions of the Croatian politician and peasant ideologue, Stjepan Radić (1871-1928). Radić was a proponent of agrarianism, which looked upon the peasant as the basic social, economic, political, and ethical force in society. Radić was opposed to rapid revolutionary changes, especially in the form of Marxism at the time, and supported gradual social reform, especially in the interest of the peasant masses. He judged harshly many manifestations of current life, such as bureaucratization, militarism, and capitalist profiteering. He fought for the modernization of Croatian society, but not in the sense of unfettered urbanization or industrialization, but for a gradual improvement in the conditions of the peasantry, which, at the beginning of the 20th century, made up the vast majority of the Croatian people. Radić believed in “historical progress” and validated the “enlightened” colonialism of the European powers, which had to “elevate” the “backward” peoples of Africa and Asia to a “higher level” of civilization.

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