(Re)interpreting the Soviet Project
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu17.2024.310Abstract
Many scholars who reflect on the Soviet project tend to perceive it in ethnic terms. They interpret it either as “non-Russian” (emphasizing the disproportionate share of ethnic minorities among the revolutionaries) or as a continuation of the traditions of Russian imperialism and messianism (in which case Bolshevism is seen as a project imposed by the Russian center on the non-Russian periphery). The authors intend to prove the analytical unproductivity of both approaches. To do this, we address the ideological attitudes of the Bolsheviks, the structure of the Soviet cultural and symbolic space, as well as Soviet national policy over the course of seven decades. As part of the study, the Soviet era was conditionally divided into three periods: the empire of “affirmative action” (according to T. Martin), Stalin’s “Russo-centrism” (according to D. Brandenberger), and late Soviet “multiculturalism”. During the first period, the communist project appears as universal, cosmopolitan, and, therefore, by definition, superethnic. During the second period, the emphasis shifts from internationalism to “Russiancentric” Soviet patriotism. Nevertheless, central authorities continue to see the Soviet people as “multinational”, and, most importantly, the entire population of the country, regardless of ethnicity, is considered as material for forging a “new person” of the communist era. Finally, at the third stage (thaw/perestroika), we can talk about the formation of a Soviet culture that crosses ethno-national borders. Thus, it was shown that both approaches discussed in the article do not capture the specifics of the Soviet project and ignore the degree of radicalism of the historical turning point caused by the events of October 1917.
Keywords:
сommunism, the Soviet project, revolution, empire, internationalism
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Published
2024-12-30
How to Cite
Malakhov, V. S., & Letnyakov, D. E. (2024). (Re)interpreting the Soviet Project. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies, 40(3), 486–498. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu17.2024.310
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Cultural studies
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Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.
