Courtesy of Niels Ackermann / Lundi13 & Sébastien Gobert / Daleko-Blisko
| This project catalyzed an interdisciplinary dialogue about the period of profound transformation following the collapse of Europe’s Communist regimes and helped forge a new narrative of its meaning. |
When Europe’s Communist regimes collapsed between 1989 and 1991, most observers hailed the spread of economic prosperity and liberal democracy across the continent. One commentator even predicted that the Communist collapse would bring about the “end of history,” ushering in an era of global peace and cultural convergence. It is now abundantly clear just how wrong these expectations were. The region has spawned powerful neotraditional authoritarian movements that have contributed to the rise of forms of white supremacy, militarism, and inequity both across the former Soviet Union and Europe. Market reforms produced the greatest economic inequality the world has ever seen and a mafia-connected oligarchic elite that defends its privilege through violence.
This project will convene a series of Zoom workshops to catalyze an interdisciplinary dialogue about this period of profound transformation and to work toward the creation of a new collective narrative of its meaning. Jettisoning old theories of democratic transition and cultural convergence, the research team plans to approach this crucial period in history as an intense confrontation between models and ideas drawn from around the world. Emphasizing the importance of international exchange and circulation, the project will document the emergence of a new form of regional politics that fused pernicious political and cultural ideas imported from the West, local traditions of national supremacy and xenophobia, and collective experiences of political and economic collapse. At the same time, the research team will explore how these new cultural forms have now been packaged and exported abroad, acquiring a visible role in EU and US politics.
Professor of Russian History and the College
University of Chicago
Faith Hillis is an historian of modern Russia, with a special interest in nineteenth- and twentieth-century politics, culture, and ideas. Her work explores how Russia's peculiar political institutions – and its status as a multiethnic empire – shaped public opinion and political cultures. It...
Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and in the College
University of Chicago
Leah Feldman’s research focuses on empire, nationalism, and critical approaches to ethnicity, gender and sexuality from the vantage point of the Caucasus and Central Asia. Her first book, On the Threshold of Eurasia: Orientalism and Revolutionary Aesthetics in the Caucasus (Cornell...
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The dissolution of the Soviet Union brought the decriminalization of homosexuality across many post-Soviet states as well as new intellectual frameworks for approaching gender and sex. The...
The rise of ethno-nationalisms has been a major factor in Eurasian politics since the years leading up to the Soviet collapse. As the post-Soviet periphery exploded in anticolonial and nationalist...
Participants at this roundtable, the third event in a series of discussions sponsored by the
Although scholars of the former Soviet empire and post-Soviet republics have long expressed interest in state violence and control, the discourse and practice of violence have rarely been examined...
The years that bookended the collapse of the Soviet Union were a time of great economic turmoil: perestroika and economic collapse rapidly gave way to privatization, new informal economies, and...
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
The dissolution of the Soviet Union brought the decriminalization of homosexuality across many post-Soviet states as well as new intellectual frameworks for approaching gender and sex. The...
The rise of ethno-nationalisms has been a major factor in Eurasian politics since the years leading up to the Soviet collapse. As the post-Soviet periphery exploded in anticolonial and nationalist...
Participants at this roundtable, the third event in a series of discussions sponsored by the
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Although scholars of the former Soviet empire and post-Soviet republics have long expressed interest in state violence and control, the discourse and practice of violence have rarely been examined...
The years that bookended the collapse of the Soviet Union were a time of great economic turmoil: perestroika and economic collapse rapidly gave way to privatization, new informal economies, and...
