POST-SOVIET CITY AS A PALIMPSEST

2020 ◽  
pp. 48-68
Author(s):  
Elena A. Kosovan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
The Coordinator ◽  
Post Soviet Period

The author of the publication reviews the photobook “Palimpsests”, published in 2018 in the publishing house “Ad Marginem Press” with the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. The book presents photos of post-Soviet cities taken by M. Sher. Preface, the author of which is the coordinator of the “Democracy” program of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Russia N. Fatykhova, as well as articles by M. Trudolyubov and K. Bush, which accompany these photos, contain explanation of the peculiarities of urban space formation and patterns of its habitation in the Soviet Union times and in the post-Soviet period. The author of the publication highly appreciates the publication under review. Analyzing the photographic works of M. Sher and their interpretation undertaken in the articles, the author of the publication agrees with the main conclusions of N. Fatykhova, M. Trudolyubov and K. Bush with regards to the importance of the role of the state in the processes of urban development and urbanization in the Soviet and post-Soviet space, but points out that the second factor that has a key influence on these processes is ownership relations. The paper positively assesses the approach proposed by the authors of the photobook to the study of the post-Soviet city as an architectural and landscape palimpsest consisting mainly of two layers, “socialist” and “capitalist”. The author of the publication specifically emphasizes the importance of analyzing the archetypal component of this palimpsest, pointing out that the articles published in the reviewed book do not pay sufficient attention to this issue. Particular importance is attributed by the author to the issue of metageography of post-Soviet cities and meta-geographical approach to their exploration. Emphasizing that the urban palimpsest is a system of realities, each in turn including a multitude of ideas, meanings, symbols, and interpretations, the author points out that the photobook “Palimpsests” is actually an invitation to a scientific game with space, which should start a new direction in the study of post-Soviet urban space.

scholarly journals Ressourcen-Extraktivismus oder Re-Industrialisierung?

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (181) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Jaitner
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Import Substitution ◽  
World Order ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
Mode Of Development ◽  
Vladimir Putin

Against the backdrop of the recent conflicts in the Ukraine and Syria the article examines Russia’s geopolitical strategy in the context of a “new world order”. Starting with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the beginning of capitalist reforms in the early 1990s the focus lies on the negotiation process of a new hegemonic consensus among the Russian elites represented by Vladimir Putin. Special attention is drawn to the role of the state and its key role stabilizing both social and power relations. Furthermore, the article analyses the expansionist strategies of Russian capital and its geopolitical interests, especially in the post-soviet space. The current financial and economic crisis has lead to conflicts among the elites on the resource-extractive mode of development and its one-sided dependency on natural resources. Therefore, the article highlights both the plans on import substitution and new integration process in the postsoviet space (Eurasian Union) asking whether these developments might contribute to a reconfiguration of Russia’s geopolitical role.

scholarly journals Formation of the Post-Soviet Statehood in Central Asia

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 95-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. T. Laumulin
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Family Relations ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Asian Region ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Post Soviet Period

The features of formation of statehood in Central Asia in the post-Soviet period are discussed in this article. The author makes the assumption that the Central Asian region has lost the homogeneity, said by researches. The way of construction of nation-states after the collapse of the Soviet Union is traced in this article. Also, it tells about the role of clans and family relations in Central Asia. 

scholarly journals One for all, each on its own: Analysing the post-Soviet system of collective security

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-110
Author(s):  
David Erkomaishvili
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Soviet System ◽  
Collective Security ◽  
Subsequent Transformation ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Security Relations ◽  
Independent States ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
Post Soviet Space

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 allowed independent states, which emerged in its place, to construct their own alignments. The choice of the case for empirical analysis had been made based on several unique characteristics. Orthodox Alliance Theory had almost never properly addressed alignments in the post-Soviet space due to the lack of access to information during the Soviet period - along with the structure of the state: only Soviet alignment policies were taken into consideration, instead of those of its constituent republics as well - and modest interest of alliance theorists in the region. Continued disintegration of the post-Soviet space, which has not stopped with the collapse of the Soviet Union but keeps fragmenting further, creates a unique setting for researching the adequacy of Alliance Theory's classic assumptions as well as developing new approaches. This work traces the development of the post-Soviet system of collective security and its subsequent transformation into a series of bilateral security relations, along with the shortfall of multilateralism.

China’s Relations with Russia

2020 ◽  
pp. 233-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexei D. Voskressenski
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
Post Soviet Period

Russia’s relations with China (and vice versa) have evolved steadily during the post-Soviet period. Leaders on both sides have proclaimed, for a number of years now, that their bilateral relations are at their best point in history. How did the China-Russia relationship reach such a stage, especially given their long (and largely discordant) history? This chapter traces the evolution of China-Russia relations since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It identifies the commonalities and common purposes Moscow and Beijing have in world affairs, as well as their bilateral economic, cultural, and military relations. The China-Russia relationship has important implications for the United States, as well as American allies in the world.

scholarly journals Architecture and attachment: Carceral collectivism and the problem of prison reform in Russia and Georgia

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Piacentini ◽  
Gavin Slade
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Prison Reform ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Collectivist Culture ◽  
Prison Life ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Cultural Attachment ◽  
Post Soviet Period

This article looks at the trajectory of prison reform in post-Soviet Georgia and Russia. It attempts to understand recent developments through an analysis of the resilient legacies of the culture of punishment born out of the Soviet period. To do this, the article fleshes out the concept of carceral collectivism, which refers to the practices and beliefs that made up prison life in Soviet and now post-Soviet countries. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 revealed a penal culture in notable need of reform. Less obvious, in retrospect, was how over the course of a century this predominantly ‘collectivist’ culture of punishment was instantiated in routine penal practices that stand in opposition to western penalities. The article shows how the social and physical structuring of collectivism and penal self-governance have remained resilient in the post-Soviet period despite diverging attempts at reform in Russia and Georgia. The article argues that persistent architectural forms and cultural attachment to collectivism constitute this resilience. Finally, the article asks how studies of collectivist punishment in the post-Soviet region might inform emerging debates about the reform and restructuring of individualizing, cell-based prisons in western jurisdictions.

The progress and organization of science in the U. S. S. R

1965 ◽  
Vol 286 (1407) ◽  
pp. 441-454
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Natural Phenomena ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Technical Advances ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Organization Of Science ◽  
Century Science

Allow me first of all to express my deep gratitude for this honour: to speak before the Royal Society, before Britain’s foremost scientists. Your President suggested to me that I speak about the organization of science in the Soviet Union. This is no easy task, because the organization of science cannot be considered apart from its development. Nor can one avoid making certain assessments of various scientific trends, and here there are always pitfalls. I must also ask you to excuse me in advance if I happen to lapse into some commonplace generalities about science and its significance, but so much has already been said on the subject that one can scarcely be original in dealing with it. Nevertheless, it is here that I shall begin. In our day we very often hear it said that in the twentieth century science has come to play a special role in the development of society and the role of the state in organizing science has been enhanced. For centuries science has been a motive force of progress, and in advanced countries governments have been at pains to found universities, which have been centres of learning. There is no doubt, however, that never before did the scope of research and the number of people occupied in it increase as rapidly as they are doing today. Man has realized that major technical advances nowadays depend on harnessing less and less conspicuous natural phenomena, hidden deeper and deeper from view.

Who Gets What, When and How? Housing and Informal Institutions in the Soviet Union and Post-Soviet Kazakhstan

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-167
Author(s):  
Dina Sharipova
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Informal Networks ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Housing Allocation ◽  
Gain Access ◽  
Post Soviet Period

Informal reciprocal exchanges continue to shape people’s interactions in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. State retrenchment from the social sphere and growing inequality has markedly limited citizens’, access to scarce resources including housing. This has stimulated people’s involvement in informal exchanges. The article analyzes housing policy during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods taking a closer look at the process of housing allocation. It claims that despite formalization of housing distribution, citizens continue using informal networks to gain access to that scarce commodity in the post-Soviet period. The article draws on data collected from interviews, textual analysis, and original surveys conducted in Kazakhstan in 2011 and 2013.

scholarly journals A 25-VOLUME EDITION OF IVAN FRANKO'S WORKS: LVIV CONTRIBUTION

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 88-121
Author(s):  
Oleksandr LUTSKYI
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Main Work ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Western Ukraine ◽  
Post War ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Artistic Heritage

The article analyzes the main directions, course, and consequences of the research and publishing project of 1940-1941 in preparing for printing a 25-volume collection of works of Ivan Franko's literary-artistic heritage in the context of new political and socio-economic realities in Western Ukraine after the accession to the USSR as a part of the Ukrainian SSR at the beginning of World War II. Emphasizing the participation in these events of employees of the Lviv department of the T. Shevchenko Institute of Ukrainian Literature of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, the author noted that the main work was carried out by the Lviv philologists, led by Academician Mykhailo Vozniak. They did the search, selection, and scientific verification of the texts, ensuring their linguistic and stylistic design, compiling the edition's reference apparatus, and others. The place and role of some compilers and editors in preparing the collection for publication, particularly M. Vozniak and Professor V. Simovych, are highlighted. The reasons which caused difficulties and insurmountable obstacles in meeting the deadline in a responsible task are revealed. It turned out that the task became much more difficult for the management of the Institute and the employees, and, first of all, for the main compilers and editors from Lviv than it seemed at first. They did not completely achieve what was planned. Before the beginning of the German-Soviet War, the State Publishing House of Ukraine managed to publish only two volumes of I. Franko's writings, although a team of Lviv scientists led by M. Vozniak had prepared for publishing a scientifically done 20-volume set of the writer's works. The German-Soviet War interrupted further printing. The post-war period's new socio-political conditions left very little space for creative activities, so M. Vozniak's attempts to complete the publication of all 25 volumes were unsuccessful in the end. Keywords: Ivan Franko, works, twenty-five-volume edition, compilers, editors, M. Vozniak.

Russian parliamentary elections 1993–2016: an overview

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek S. Hutcheson
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Party System ◽  
The State ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Changing Role

The chapter focuses on providing an overview of the role of the State Duma in Russia’s political system, and introduces the key actors within it throughout the post-Soviet Union period. It begins with a brief history of the evolution of the electoral process and party system from the late Soviet period to the present day. It then introduces the main political parties in the Russian electoral process, and the ‘family tree’ of such organisations from 1993 to 2016. Finally, it examines the changing role of the State Duma throughout the first quarter-century of its existence, as it has moved from a fledgling institution to a fully established part of the machinery of government.

Reading Evgeny Messner

2018 ◽  
pp. 49-74
Author(s):  
Ofer Fridman
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Nazi Germany ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
Russian School ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Post Soviet Period

This chapter explores the works of Evgeny Messner, an Imperial Russian émigré officer whose books were prohibited in the USSR due to his strong anti-Communist views. After the Cold War, however, his works have become increasingly popular, taking a more central place within the Russian school of military thinking. After a short introduction of the author and his career, the chapter explores the concept of “Subversion-War” (Myatezhevoyna), developed by Messner during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Due to his anti-Communist views and alliance with the White Movement, and later with Nazi Germany, Messner remained generally unknown in the Soviet Union. In the post-Soviet period, however, Messner’s works have become available to a broader range of military thinkers, and there has been a growing revival of Messner’s concept of subversion-war to analyze the contemporary geopolitical situation and political, military and economic confrontations.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document