The 1980s were a pivotal turning point in Soviet history. A convergence of crises greeted the decade—a geriatric leadership, a quagmire in Afghanistan, strife in the satellite states, a renewed Cold War, an ossified economic system, and pervasive cynicism and corruption. The Soviet system hobbled along until mid-decade when a younger, reform-minded leadership took over, personified by Mikhail Gorbachev. Perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness) quickly became watchwords of the day that unleashed pent up frustrations and sparked new thinking, hope, and inspiration for the future that shook the Soviet Bloc to its core. By the end of the 1980s, communist states were collapsing left and right.
REEES 2022 Spring Series
Openness, Acceleration, Restructuring: The Soviet 1980s, will explore various aspects of the last Soviet decade through a series of six interviews on the aesthetics, politics, memory, and daily life to get a sense of the potential and unimaginable of this crucial period.
February 3 - April 14, 2022
Thursdays 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EST
February 3, 2022
Ditching Communism for Liberalism in Poland
A Live Interview with Tom Junes, Institute for Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences
February 24, 2022
I Cannot Forsake My Principles
A Live Interview with Courtney Doucette, SUNY Oswego
April 7, 2022
Perestroika in the Periphery: Tajikistan
A Live Interview with Isaac Scarborough, Institute for History at Leiden University
April 14, 2022
Memory, Trauma, Transition
A Live Interview with Nanci Adler, University of Amsterdam
Collapse
A Live Interview with Vladislav Zubok, London School of Economics
April 28, 2022
Everything was Forever Until...
A Live Interview with Alexey Yurchak, UC Berkeley