Collective and the Individual in Russia - A Study of Practices

"A brilliant analysis. Using an extraordinary amount of rich and unusual primary sources and a remarkable array of theoretical insights, the author analyzes the role of the individual and individualism throughout the whole Communist period. It is one of the best works of sociology that I have read in recent years, and may be the most brilliant and provocative work that I have ever read on the Soviet Union."—Tim McDaniel, author of Autocracy, Capitalism, and Revolution in Russia

About the author

Oleg Kharkhordin is Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, Harvard University, and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology, European University at St. Petersburg.

Summary

Examining the period from the Russian Revolution to the fall of Gorbachev, this title demonstrates that Party rituals - which forced each Communist to reflect intensely and repeatedly on his or her "self", an entirely novel experience for many of them - had their antecedents in the Orthodox Christian practices of doing penance in the public gaze.

Product details

• Authors: Oleg Kharkhordin, Kharkhordin Oleg
• Publisher: University Of California Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 15.06.1999
• EAN: 9780520216044
• ISBN: 978-0-520-21604-4
• No. of pages: 418
• Series: Studies on the History of Society and Culture; Studies on the History of Soci; Studies on the History of Society and Culture
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Politics; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > General, dictionaries; History, Sociology, Europe, Eastern Europe, European History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, HISTORY / Europe / General, HISTORY / Europe / Eastern