The unfinished business of perestroika: Latvia's memory politics and its quest for acknowledgment of victimhood in Europe

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 560-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Wezel
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
National Level ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
European Level ◽  
Unfinished Business ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Memory Politics ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union

In the 25 years since the re-establishment of Baltic independence from the Soviet Union, there has been no conclusive public conversation, or “coming to terms with the past” with respect to crimes against Latvian and other persecuted groups under Communism. This paper examines how national politicians, members of the European Parliament in Brussels, representatives of Latvia's Russian-speaking minority, and the Russian government have engaged in a difficult, long-overdue conversation. Conflicting historical narratives about victimhood are at the heart of these disagreements. Special emphasis is given to Latvia's historical narrative, its development over the past 25 years, and the way it challenges Russia's interpretation of history. I argue that Latvian memory politics at the European level are a continuation of Latvia's quest for acknowledgment of its victimhood, thereby trying to finish the process started in the late 1980s when Balts first demanded acknowledgment of human rights violations they had suffered under the Soviet regime. Latvia's methods of transitional justice are examined, arguing that its memory politics at the European level are an extension of steps taken at the national level to come to terms with the past and to increase its negotiating power against Russia's neo-Soviet historical narrative.

The Evolution of Russian Government Priorities for Scientific and Technological Development: 1990s — 2010s

Istoriya ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11 (109)) ◽  
pp. 0
Author(s):  
Denis Sekirinskiy
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Technology Policy ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Science And Technology Policy ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Scientific Potential ◽  
Scientific And Technological Development

As the Soviet Union collapsed, science and technology policy in Russia turned out to be out of the decision-makers’ attention focus. The socio-economic transformations of the early 1990s negatively affected the scientific and research organizations, which led to a gradual stagnation in the development of scientific knowledge. By the mid-1990s it had posed a threat to the whole scientific potential of the country. Such a crisis triggered debates on what measures should be taken to reorganize state science and technology policy. The reorganization was marked by the practice of goal-setting, a process based on both historical background and socio-economic tasks of a specific time period with all the participants sharing common perspective of the future. This article is an overview of the key program and strategic documents adopted in the period from the mid-1990s till the late 2010s. These documents reflect the evolution of state priorities for scientific and technological development. The analysis of these documents allows us to trace how the scientific and technical policy of the Russian Federation has been transformed from the principle of preserving and supporting the already existing scientific potential to the principle of finding response to specific challenges.

Reliability of the Plot Related to the Conversation with Deng Xiaoping on the Sino-Soviet Territorial Issues in the Memoirs of E. Shevardnadze

2021 ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Yinan Li
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Good Reason ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Deng Xiaoping ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Reliable Source ◽  
History Of ◽  
Territorial Claims

In 2009, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and President of Georgia E.A. Shevardnadze published his memoirs in Russian, which contain an “explosive” plot: while visiting China in February 1989, during his meeting with Deng Xiaoping, a lengthy dispute over border and territorial issues occurred. At that time, Deng allegedly expressed his point of view that vast lands of the Soviet Union, from three to four million square kilometers, belonged to China. Chinese can wait patiently until someday the lands return to China. This content is cited in scientific works by many historians from different countries as an argument. However, there is no other evidence which can prove this recollection. Many details in it contradict the well known historical facts or are completely illogical. There is a good reason to believe that the plot in the memoirs of Shevardnadze is an incorrect recollection. It could even be considered as a made-up story. Moreover, it is possible that it was fabricated for some reasons. Hence, the plot is not worthy of being quoted as a reliable source. At the Sino-Soviet summit Deng Xiaoping did have expressed the point of view that in the past Russia and then the Soviet Union cut off millions of square kilometers of land from China, but at the same time he promised the leader of the Soviet Union that China would not make territorial claims. Since the mid-1980s Deng Xiaoping actively promoted the settlement of the Sino-Soviet border issues through negotiations, which led to the result that 99% of the border between Russia and China was delimited on a legal basis in the last years of his life. At present, the problems of the Sino-Russian border have been finally resolved long ago. There is no doubt that the scientific research and discussions on issues related to territory and borders in the history of Sino-Soviet relations can be made. However, such research and discussions should be based on reliable sources.

Agwan Dorjiev’s Questions about the Past and Future of Mongolian Buddhism

2020 ◽  
pp. 416-437
Author(s):  
Matthew W. King
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
British Raj ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Monastic Life ◽  
Competing Models ◽  
Letter Exchange

This chapter translates a 1924 letter exchange between two luminaries of the final years of prepurge Buddhism in Mongol and Buryat lands: the Khalkha polymath Zava Damdin Luvsandamdin (1867–1937) and the diplomat, reformer, and abbot Agvan Dorjiev (1854–1938). Both figures were deeply engaged with revolutionary intellectual currents circulating between China, the British Raj, Russia, Siberia, Tibet, Japan, and Mongolia in the early decades of the twentieth century. Both sought an advantage for Buddhist monastic life in competing models of revolutionary development and emancipation being debated in the Soviet Union and Mongolian People’s Republic. In the exchange translated here, these two tragic figures debate topics as diverse as the prehistory of the Mongolian community, the whereabouts of the fabled “land of Li,” and how best to counter the threat of scientific empiricism.

Soviet Selves

2019 ◽  
pp. 60-81
Author(s):  
Justine Buck Quijada
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
World War ◽  
Symbolic Form ◽  
Soviet History ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Religious Actors

Chapter 2 presents the Soviet chronotope embodied in Victory Day celebrations. Victory Day, which is the celebration of the Soviet victory over Germany in World War II, presumes the familiar Soviet genre of history, in which the Soviet Union brought civilization to Buryatia, and Buryats achieved full citizenship in the Soviet utopian dream through their collective sacrifice during the war. The ritual does not narrate Soviet history. Instead, through Soviet and wartime imagery, and the parade form, the public holiday evokes this genre in symbolic form, enabling local residents to read their own narratives of the past into the imagery. This space for interpretation enables both validation as well as critique of the Soviet experience in Buryatia. Although not everyone in Buryatia agrees on how to evaluate this history, this genre is the taken-for-granted backdrop against which other religious actors define their narratives.

The Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union in Transition: What of Services to Blind Persons?

1990 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 260-261
Author(s):  
S.J. Spungin
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Vocational Training ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Blind Persons

The author discusses the system of service to blind persons in the Soviet Union, based on trips to 2 of its 15 republics in the past year. This system, in which the factory is the major employer, offers immediate rehabilitation and vocational training, financed by factory profits. The author also discusses changes occurring in the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries and how they could affect these countries’ blind populations.

African Studies in the U.S.S.R.

1966 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-366
Author(s):  
V. G. Solodovnikov
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Special Interest ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
African Studies ◽  
Arts And Crafts ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Deep Roots ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union

African studies in the Soviet Union have deep roots in the past. The nature of Africa, the African peoples' way of life, their culture, arts, and crafts have long been of special interest to scholars in the Soviet Union. We have never had any mercenary motives, for our country never had colonies in Africa and never aimed at seizing African lands. No Russian soldier has ever been to Africa. Moreover, many Russian progressive intellectuals strongly protested against any form of exploitation and slavery. More than once they spoke in support of Africans and attacked the slave trade and the policy of turning the vast regions of Africa into what Karl Marx called ‘field reserves’ for the hunting of Africans.

Concluding remarks

1990 ◽  
Vol 331 (1619) ◽  
pp. 451-453
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Technical Progress ◽  
Fast Reactor ◽  
Mixed Oxide ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Fuel Storage ◽  
Metal Fuel ◽  
Versus Loop

Over the past two days we have been taking stock of the overall position as regards the development of fast reactors in Europe, the U. S. S. R., the U. S. A, and Japan. I am sure we can agree that collectively we have made good technical progress with the development of this major source of electrical power for the next century. In Europe, we have two large prototypes operating, Phénix and PER. We also have a 1200 MW e demonstration reactor (Superphenix), which is now continuing with its commissioning programme after the interruption caused by the leak from the fuel storage vessel. The Soviet Union is pressing ahead with its program m e; in the U. S. A. FFTF has given outstanding reliability and in Jap an the construction of Monju is going well and is on schedule for criticality in 1992. O f course there are a number of possible realizations of the sodium-cooled fast reactor concept. We have had in this conference some muted debates about the merits of pool versus loop, oxide versus metal fuel, large versus small modular and the possibilities of eliminating the secondary sodium circuit. But we can all probably agree that the pool mixed-oxide fuelled design is one realization which has now reached an advanced state of development, certainly the pre-commercial stage.

When Politics Drives Science: Lysenko, Gore, and U.S. Biotechnology Policy

1996 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry I. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Clinton Administration ◽  
New Science ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Sacrifice ◽  
Applied Biology

It has been said that those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. It is important, therefore, to consider the parallels between the decimation of basic and applied biology by Trofim Denisovich Lysenko in the Soviet Union earlier in this century and the battering of present-day biotechnology by the Clinton administration. In both cases, we see the sacrifice of new science to old myth; heterodox, unscientific theories steering public policy; the abject failure of that public policy, with dire outcomes for research and commerce; and glib, condescending, and exclusionary attitudes toward policymaking.

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