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Almost three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, today more often than ever, global media and intellectuals rely on the concept of
homo sovieticus to explain Russia's authoritarian ills.
Homo sovieticus - or the Soviet man - is understood to be a double-thinking, suspicious and fearful conformist with no morality, an innate obedience to authority and no public demands; they have been forged in the fires of the totalitarian conditions in which they find themselves.
But where did this concept come from? What analytical and ideological pillars does it stand on? What is at stake in using this term today?
The Afterlife of the 'Soviet Man' addresses all these questions and even explains why - at least in its contemporary usage - this concept should be abandoned altogether.
List of contents
Prologue
1. On Riding Bicycles and Human Judgement
2. Homo Sovieticus as Eastern European Dissent
3. Homo Sovieticus as Soviet Dissent
4. Homo Sovieticus as a Perestroika Child
5. Homo Sovieticus as Post-Soviet Empathy
6. Homo Post-Sovieticus as a Fight for the Continent
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Gulnaz Sharafutdinova is Professor of Russian Politics at King's Russia Institute (King's College London, UK. She is the author of award-winning The Red Mirror: Putin's Leadership and Russia's Insecure Identity (2020) and an earlier monograph, Political Consequences of Crony Capitalism Inside Russia (2011). She is also the co-editor, along with Neringa Klumbyte, of Soviet Society In The Era of Late Socialism, 1964-1985 (2012).
Summary
Almost three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, today more often than ever, global media and intellectuals rely on the concept of homo sovieticus to explain Russia’s authoritarian ills. Homo sovieticus - or the Soviet man - is understood to be a double-thinking, suspicious and fearful conformist with no morality, an innate obedience to authority and no public demands; they have been forged in the fires of the totalitarian conditions in which they find themselves.
But where did this concept come from? What analytical and ideological pillars does it stand on? What is at stake in using this term today? The Afterlife of the ‘Soviet Man’ addresses all these questions and even explains why – at least in its contemporary usage – this concept should be abandoned altogether.
Foreword
The first book-length exploration of the concept of homo sovieticus and its history.
Additional text
A very timely book about major attempts to analyse Soviet-Russian identity before and after the collapse of the USSR. Combining methodological clarity with empathy and erudition, the author rejects a reductionist ‘totalitarian’ approach in favour of nuanced observation. A useful corrective to any current analysis of Russia, in peace and at war.
