scholarly journals Actually-Existing Success: Economics, Aesthetics, and the Specificity of (Still-)Socialist Urbanism

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 907-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Murawski
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Social Goals ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Economic Stratification ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Critical Overview

AbstractA quarter century following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the people's democracies, many of the dwellings, utilities, and public spaces built by these regimes continue to be cherished by their inhabitants and users. This has only increased as post-socialist urban landscapes undergo an ever-intensifying process of neoliberal “re-privatization,” de-planning, and spatial as well as economic stratification. Scholars, however, continue to produce accounts emphasizing how socialist cities and buildings, as well as the audacious social goals built into them, failed. This article provides a critical overview of recent literature on built socialism and identifies a tension between two parallel ethnographic and historical narratives. One argues that built socialism failed, because it was too obsessed with the economy and industry and neglected every other aspect of social life. The other pins the blame for failure on built socialism's alleged fixation with aesthetic or discursive realms and its corresponding neglect of the economy. The article closes by suggesting pathways for comparative scholarship that consider built socialism in terms of not only collapse and disintegration, but also success and endurance; not simply ofeithereconomyoraesthetics, but also of their reciprocal inter-determination and co-dependence. We must look beyond the lens of imported theories and consider “vernacular” or “emic” concepts rooted in the specificities and singularities of the socialist city itself.

On the origins of the concept of ‘latent schizophrenia’ in Russian psychiatry

2021 ◽  
pp. 0957154X2110353
Author(s):  
Birk Engmann
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Important Concept ◽  
Eugen Bleuler ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Psychiatry ◽  
Soviet Research

In the mid-twentieth century in the Soviet Union, latent schizophrenia became an important concept and a matter of research and also of punitive psychiatry. This article investigates precursor concepts in early Russian psychiatry of the nineteenth century, and examines whether – as claimed in recent literature – Russian and Soviet research on latent schizophrenia was mainly influenced by the work of Eugen Bleuler.

Recent Literature on the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941–1945

2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-179
Author(s):  
Alexander Hill
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Eastern Front ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Great Patriotic War ◽  
Red Army

Anthony Beevor, Stalingrad (London: Viking, 1998), 512 pp., £25.00, ISBN 0-670-87095-1. David Glanz, ed., The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front 22 June–August 1941 (London: Frank Cass, 1993, reprinted 1997), 511 pp., £22.50, ISBN 0-714-64298-3. David Glanz and Jonathan House, When Titans Clashed – How the Red Army Stopped Hitler (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1995), 414 pp., £14.50, ISBN 0-700-60899-0. Leonid Grenkevich, The Soviet Partisan Movement 1941–1944 (London: Frank Cass, 1999), 368 pp., £17.50, ISBN 0-714-64428-5. Mark Harrison, Accounting for war – Soviet production, employment and the defence burden, 1940-1945 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 338 pp., £40.00, ISBN 0-521-48265-8. Richard Overy, Russia's War (London: Penguin, 1997), 394 pp., £20.00, ISBN 0-713-99223-9. V. A. Zolotarev et al., Velikaia Otechestvennaia voina 1941–1945. Kniga 1 – Surovie ispitaniia (Moscow: Nauka, 1998), 542 pp., ISBN 5-020-10136-2. V. A. Zolotarev et al., Velikaia Otechestvennaia voina 1941–1945. Kniga 2 – Perelom (Moscow: Nauka, 1998), 499 pp., ISBN 5-020-09736-5.

Terror in Soviet Architecture: The Murder of Mikhail Okhitovich

Slavic Review ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 448-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh D. Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
Creative Work ◽  
Common People ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Soviet Union

Throughout the 1920s and into the years of Stalinism, progressive architects in the Soviet Union sought to construct new forms of housing and settlement that would offer the best of modern technology and whose design would include provisioning of services that would allow all citizens, especially women, to partake in creative work. Schools, dining facilities, laundries, parks, cinemas, clubs and housing in a choice of styles formed the core of these architectural dreams. In the tradition of the Populists, modernist architects initially saw themselves as teachers but some came to appreciate the necessity of listening and began to learn from worker assessments of housing and urban design. This communication formed the basis for bridging, at least in housing, the cultural gap between revolutionary elites and common people. Inherent in the modernist movement in architecture, as reflected most eloquently in the work of the Association of Contemporary Architects (OSA), was a greater democratization of political and social life.

scholarly journals Formation, Development and Current State of the Armenian Genocide Victims Remembrance Day (Part 2)

2018 ◽  
pp. 103-142
Author(s):  
Harutyun Marutyan
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Social Life ◽  
50Th Anniversary ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
Armenian Genocide ◽  
Property A ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
Armenian Identity

On April 24, 1965, Armenians both in the Soviet Armenia and Diaspora commemorated the 50th anniversary of Mets Yeghern. In the Soviet Armenia this became possible not only due to the changes within the wide circles of the society after the Khrushchev Thaw but also because of the political will of the Armenian authorities, namely, Yakov Zarobyan, the First Secretary of the Armenian Communist Party. The decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was preceded by a long sequence of preparatory work, among which was a letter addressed to the authorities of Moscow in December 1964. Thanks to some ideological statements there, the Armenian Genocide has been moved from the level of a solely Armenian tragedy to the level of the world history. The commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Mets Yeghern took place on two levels: people and state/party. The mass demonstration, peoples’ march, the distribution of leaflets and intrusion to the Opera building were the sure indicators of a national outbreak. Thanks to a position of the Armenian authorities no mass persecution against the participants was followed. The commemoration of April 24, 1965 in Yerevan broke the wall of official silence and revealed the truth about one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century to the wide public. It gave rise to scholarly researches, publication of books and archival records relating to the events of 1915 and resulted in the inclusion of the 1915 Genocide into the textbooks. Finally, it was a unique case when the authorities and people were fighting for the same cause even though from the opposite ends. They fought and reached their goal. One of the evidences of this fight was the construction of the Memorial during 2,5 years, which immediately took its place among the symbols of the Armenian identity. It has been 50 years since that people are organizing annual April 24th marches to the Memorial. On April 24-25, 1965 in different parts of Diaspora Remembrance Day of the Victims of Mets Yeghern was solemnly commemorated. It can be stated, that the solemn commemoration of April 24, 1965 in different communities of the Armenian Diaspora displayed the qualitative transition from the culture of mourning to another level of commemoration ceremonies. Particularly, the idea that the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide are finally getting/should get their worthy punishment/assessment was present. On the eve of April 24, many memorials are being built in different corners of the world. On April 24, 1975, for the first time the authorities of the Soviet Armenia officially paid tribute to the memory of Mets Yeghern victims by visiting the Genocide Memorial. At 7pm a Moment of Silence in the memory of the Genocide victims was announced on the television and radio. On November 22, 1988, the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR adopted the law on the “Condemnation of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in the Ottoman Turkey” and recognized April 24 the “Remembrance Day of the Victims of the Armenian Genocide.” During the Karabakh Movement or the Armenian Revolution (February 20, 1988 – August 23, 1990) the change in the essence of the Remembrance Day has occurred: it became the day of presenting political demands on different issues of social life. The article details the commemoration of the Remembrance Day of the Genocide victims in the context of the commemorative rituals of the Armenian people. In 1965, during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Mets Yeghern, the memory of Genocide attained a new status. It can be stated that it became a pan-national “property,” a feature for the whole Armenians. The Genocide memory became a constituent part of the Armenian identity and through the efforts of Hay Dat and other similar organizations became known to the world. On the centennial of the Armenian Genocide not the memory of Mets Yeghern but the memory of Armenian Genocide still remains as one of the most important manifestations of the Armenian identity. This memory is one of the unique elements which unite different political forces and started influencing not only the preservation but also the formation of a nation. Executive and legislative bodies of more than twenty-five countries as well as various international organizations have now recognized the Armenian Genocide. The vast majority of recognitions as a rule happen on or around April 24. More than hundred years have passed since the Armenian Genocide. It is high time to reconsider the concealed meaning of the Remembrance Day, transform it, and at least change its emphasis by putting another wording for April 24 into circulation: “Remembrance Day of the Victims of the Armenian Genocide and the Heroes of the Selfdefense Battles.”

scholarly journals State Toleration of a New Faith in Post-Soviet Society: A Case Study of Latter-day Saints in Independent Ukraine

2018 ◽  
pp. 63-85
Author(s):  
Howard L. Biddulph
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Religious Liberty ◽  
Soviet Society ◽  
World Population ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
Specific Outcome

This study combines author's experiences as an analyst of post-Soviet politics and religious liberty with personal participation in the founding and public acceptance of a new faith in independent Ukraine during a quarter- century (1). Theattempt here is not only to describe a specific outcome, but to propose factors that offer explanation for why Ukraine is among the few Communist successor states in which new minority faiths have been relatively successful in achieving full toleration [Biddulph: 2016]. Religious liberty has been described as the “first freedom of all freedoms” [Hertzke: 2013, 4], yet it has been noticeably unachieved globally. A 2007 Pew  “Global Attitudes Survey” showed that 90% of respondents world-wide said that it was  important to live in a country that enabled them to practice religion freely.  Yet a more recent Pew “Forum on Global Restrictions on Religion” found that 70% of the world population reside in countries which have high or very high restrictions on religion either from government actions or from major social hostilities [Grim: 2013 , 86]. Religious liberty, therefore, is an almost universal human aspiration, but is one of the more unachieved rights in the world. The Soviet Union successor states have a similar record of lower achievement [Lunkin: 2013; Grim:  2013]. 

scholarly journals Tale of Two Cities: Historical Narratives in the Russian and Chinese Urban Landscapes

2020 ◽  
pp. 78-85
Author(s):  
Chen Fachun ◽  
Olga Leontovich
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Urban Narratives ◽  
Big City ◽  
Intertextual Connections

The present paper is part of a broader research "Language of a Big City: Media Urban Discourse in Russia and China". Its theoretical basis is situated in the contact zone between narratology, critical discourse analysis, semiotics and urban communication studies. The investigation is carried out on the example of two big non-capital cities – Volgograd and Tianjin, which represent the social processes typical of modern urban communities. The research model used for the study includes the following dimensions: 1) types of urban narratives; 2) narrator; 3) audience (reader / listener / viewer); 4) plot; 5) time; 6) space; 7) types of semiotic signs; 8) intertextual connections. The investigation proceeds from the idea about the textuality of the human mind, as well as the narrative ways of reality and identity construction. Multiple narratives can provide different urban history interpretations. Politicians use narratives to appropriate or reshape the past and the present as a common form of manipulation. A specific feature of urban historical narratives is that they do not possess fixed temporal boundaries and change due to the dynamics of urban social life. We argue that the stories that shape memories in the minds of general public are condensed versions of historical narratives based on the most intensely remembered facts, coloured with emotions and intensified by visual images, impressions and intertextual links. This idea emphasises the social responsibility of the creators of modern urban narratives in their different forms. The perspective of the research is to investigate the connection of these processes with Russian and Chinese mentality, values, logic of meaning-making and linguistic expression.

scholarly journals Sergey Rumyancev, Ускользающая современность: постсоветская модернизация Азербайджана / Vanishing Modernity: The Post-Soviet Modernization of Azerbaijan

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 136-147
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modern State ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
Oil And Natural Gas

The article focuses on the debates situation of post-soviet modernization and transformation of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani economy failed to become a market economy, and remains instead predominantly based on the extraction and sale of oil and natural gas. Cities are being ruralised instead of the urbanization of rural areas. In its turn, industrialization ended together with the Soviet Union. A more or less tangible individualization and fragmentation of social life are not part of the history of post-Soviet Azerbaijan either. The political and economic systems of Azerbaijan are an imitation of a modern state. It is an example of a simulacrum state and a total imitation of modern political institutions and relations. In other words: The political regime in Azerbaijan is a complex of imitative practices, relations and “institutional camouflages” that enable a broad international presentation of Azerbaijan, effectively privatized by a small group of people, as a modern state that exists in reality.

scholarly journals Problems and issues of national development in the newspaper "Kazakh adebieti"

2018 ◽  
pp. 368-374
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Social Life ◽  
National Development ◽  
Native Land ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
National Power ◽  
Almost All

Literary, cultural and art newspaper of an independent Republic of Kazakhstan – ‘Kazakh literature’ was a judge of justice and truth, and a preacher of national power having the trouble in its eighty five years of history. The edition had a mission to build and develop social concept leading the culture of the nation for the purpose of the country. It has been a part of history of the country being the source of political and social life of the nation. Many problems of the country had been solved by courtesy of the newspaper which couldn’t be ignored. During the Soviet Union the paper supported the mission of the nation in spite of Communist party which was cruel and violent. Because of it, the editors of the edition were precarious between fifties and eighties. Almost all the leaders of the newspaper were well-known writers, poets, publicists and personalities who showed them to be the real sons of their nation. During all periods of its history, the national edition united around itself and brought up ardent publicists, and with the power of a sharp word they fought for the bright future of their native land, for the fulfillment of the nation’s cherished desires. Therefore, from the mid-1950s to the 1980s, its editors-in-chief did not stay long in their post.

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