Eternal Russia

Eternal Russia

Author: Jonathan Steele

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 9780674268371

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The former Moscow bureau chief of London's The Guardian presents an in-depth history of the former Soviet Union from 1987 to today. Jonathan Steele draws on interviews with Gorbachev, senior members of the Yeltsin inner circle, and many other sources to highlight the difficulty of establishing democracy and a free market in Russia.


The Russian "House"

The Russian

Author: Jason C. Vaughn

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2018-10-15

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 0761870571

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This book studies Russian society, culture, and public opinion in terms of what ordinary Russians think about Russia independent of the authoritarian regime of President Vladimir Putin. This study uses Jason Vaughn’s research and work in Russia to build a new model of how to interpret the Russian political system.


Fluid Russia

Fluid Russia

Author: Vera Michlin-Shapir

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2021-12-15

Total Pages: 263

ISBN-13: 1501760564

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Fluid Russia offers a new framework for understanding Russian national identity by focusing on the impact of globalization on its formation, something which has been largely overlooked. This approach sheds new light on the Russian case, revealing a dynamic Russian identity that is developing along the lines of other countries exposed to globalization. Vera Michlin-Shapir shows how along with the freedoms afforded when Russia joined the globalizing world in the 1990s came globalization's disruptions. Michlin-Shapir describes Putin's rise to power and his project to reaffirm a stronger identity not as a uniquely Russian diversion from liberal democracy, but as part of a broader phenomenon of challenges to globalization. She underlines the limits of Putin's regime to shape Russian politics and society, which is still very much impacted by global trends. As well, Michlin-Shapir questions a prevalent approach in Russia studies that views Russia's experience with national identity as abnormal or defective, either being too week or too aggressive. What is offered is a novel explanation for the so-called Russian identity crisis. As the liberal postwar order faces growing challenges, Russia's experience can be an instructive example of how these processes unfold. This study ties Russia's authoritarian politics and nationalist rallying to the shortcomings of globalization and neoliberal economics, potentially making Russia "patient zero" of the anti-globalist populist wave and rise of neo-authoritarian regimes. In this way, Fluid Russia contributes to the broader understanding of national identity in the current age and the complexities of identity formation in the global world.


Russia

Russia

Author: Robert Service

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 438

ISBN-13: 9780674021082

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The first history of modern Russia from 1991 to the present day by one of the leading historians of the 20th century USSR and Russia. In 1991, in a huge experiment with a people and in a state of euphoria, Boris Yeltsin abolished the USSR and recreated the Russian nation. At the point of its declaration is was in a state of economic and social disarray and yet there were high hopes. Hopes which have subsequently been dashed. Robert Service brings to bear his vast knowledge of the people and the country to put the recent upheavals into context and he shows that not everything changed for the worst 1991. The Gorbachev years have allowed the Russian people to give a priority to living a private life and shutting the door on the state. They could think what they liked. The could enjoy intellectual and religious freedom, and indulge in recreations their income would allow. Gays and Lesbians could come 'out'. The Youth culture could finally be loosed from contraints. This is a broad political, social and cultural history of one of the newest nations ever to be formed.


Russia as Civilization

Russia as Civilization

Author: Kåre Johan Mjør

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-05-18

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1000072355

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Analyzing the use of civilization in Russian-language political and media discourses, intellectual and academic production, and artistic practices, this book discusses the rise of civilizational rhetoric in Russia and global politics. Why does the concept of civilization play such a prevalent role in current Russian geopolitical and creative imaginations? The contributors answer this question by exploring the extent to which discourse on civilization penetrates Russian identity formations in imperial and national configurations, and at state and civil levels of society. Although the chapters offer different interpretations and approaches, the book shows that Russian civilizationism is a form of ideological production responding to the challenges of globalization. The concept of "civilization," while increasingly popular as a conceptual tool in identity formation, is also widely contested in Russia today. This examination of contemporary Russian identities and self-understanding will be of particular interest to students and scholars of Russian area studies and Slavic studies, intellectual and cultural history, nationalism and imperial histories, international relations, discourse analysis, cultural studies, media studies, religion studies, and gender studies.


Cold War Correspondents

Cold War Correspondents

Author: Dina Fainberg

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press

Published: 2021-01-19

Total Pages: 373

ISBN-13: 1421438445

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Taken together, these sources illuminate a rich history of private and professional lives at the heart of the superpower conflict.


The Empire of the Czar

The Empire of the Czar

Author: Astolphe Louis L. Marq. De Custine

Publisher: Theclassics.Us

Published: 2013-09

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13: 9781230325774

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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1843 edition. Excerpt: ... find perfect models of Grecian statues, several of which I have indeed already seen in Petersburg, where the nobles are often attended by the men born on their distant estates. A low and confined room adjoined this immense shed; it reminded me of the cabin of some river boat; walls, ceiling, floor, seats, and tables, were all of wood rudely hewn. The smell of cabbage and pitch was extremely powerful. In this retreat, almost deprived of air and light, for the doors were low, and the windows extremely small, I found an old woman busy serving tea to four or five bearded peasants, clothed in pelisses of sheepskin, the wool of which is turned inwards, for it has already, and for some days past, become rather cold. These men were of short stature. Their leather pelisses were rather tasteful, but they were very ill scented: I know nothing except the perfumes of the nobles that could be more so. On the table stood a bright copper kettle and a teapot. The tea is always of good quality, well made, and, if it is not preCHARACTER OF THE RUSSIANS. 179 This is the 1st of August. ferred pure, good milk is every where to be obtained. This elegant beverage served up in barns, I say barns for politeness-sake, reminds me of the chocolate of the Spaniards. It forms one of the thousand contrasts with which the traveller is struck at every step he takes among these two people, equally singular, though in many of their ways as different as the climates they inhabit. I have often said that the Russian people have a sentiment of the picturesque: among the groups of men and animals that surrounded me in this interior of a Russian farm house, a painter would have found subjects for several charming pictures. The red or blue shirt of the peasants is buttoned over...


Russia's Stillborn Democracy?

Russia's Stillborn Democracy?

Author: Graeme J. Gill

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2000-03-23

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 0199240418

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The decade and a half since Gorbachev came to power has been a tumultuous time for Russia. It has seen the expectations raised by perestroika dashed, the collapse of the Soviet superpower, and the emergence of a new Russian state claiming to base itself on democratic, market principles. It has seen a political system shattered by a president turning tanks against the parliament, and then that president configuring the new political structure to give himself overwhelming power. Theseupheavals took place against a backdrop of social dislocations as the Russian people were ravaged by the effects of economic shock therapy.This book explains how these momentous changes came about, and in particular why political elites were able to fashion the new political system largely independent of the wishes of the populace at large. It was this relationship between powerful elites and weak civil society forces which has led to Russian democracy under Yeltsin being still born.


Russia under Western Eyes

Russia under Western Eyes

Author: Martin E Malia

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-06-30

Total Pages: 529

ISBN-13: 0674040481

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A dazzling work of intellectual history by a world-renowned scholar, spanning the years from Peter the Great to the fall of the Soviet Union, this book gives us a clear and sweeping view of Russia not as an eternal barbarian menace but as an outermost, if laggard, member in the continuum of European nations.