{"title":"Everyday Soviet Utopias: Planning, Design and the Aesthetics of Developed Socialism by Anna Alekseyeva (review)","authors":"Christine Varga-Harris","doi":"10.1353/REG.2020.0019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/REG.2020.0019","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":307724,"journal":{"name":"Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117335122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gulnara Z. Karimova, Christopher J. Marquette, Yevgeniya Kim
{"title":"The Attitude of Kazakhstani Millennials to Images with Traditional Overtones","authors":"Gulnara Z. Karimova, Christopher J. Marquette, Yevgeniya Kim","doi":"10.1353/REG.2020.0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/REG.2020.0014","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The purpose of this article is to use questionnaires and interviews to gain insight into how the young generation in Kazakhstan perceives images with traditional overtones. Respondents were exposed to images of female figures with Central Asian facial features dressed in traditional Kazakh clothing, a male hunter holding a golden eagle, and a nomad's tent set against the backdrop of a steppe landscape. These images of pre-Soviet nomadic life—preliminarily designated by the interviewees as traditional Kazakh images—may serve as further attestation to \"localization\" by means of distancing from Soviet-era symbols. Qualitative and quantitative analysis are used to reveal the attitude of Generation Y individuals toward these images with Kazakh traditional overtones. Research analysis is used to map the preference of Kazakhstani youth as a response to the nationalization policy of the Nazarbayev regime. The findings lead to the important discovery that Kazakhstani cultural representation, which is essentially based on Kazakh pre-Soviet ethnic representation, is nonetheless shared by Kazakhstani youth of varying ethnicities.","PeriodicalId":307724,"journal":{"name":"Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121400656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Understanding the Ukrainian Conflict from the Perspective of Post-Soviet Decolonization","authors":"B. Kang","doi":"10.1353/REG.2020.0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/REG.2020.0015","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article aims to explain the causes (in particular, the motives and objectives of Russia's actions) of the Ukrainian conflict from a decolonization perspective and its impact on Eurasian interstate and West-Russia relations. Russia's positioning in Eurasian decolonization is identified as \"defensive.\" This defensive position as a postimperial metropole has been constructed by combining its \"semiperipheral\" status within the liberal international order with the assertiveness of a \"neocolonial\" power challenged by \"post-colonial\" independent countries in Eurasia. To a certain extent, the annexation of Crimea was merely an illegitimate settlement of disputes over property rights between two countries, in that the seizure of Crimea occurred in a combination of several factors at various levels. As a result, the motives and objectives of a Russian invasion can be regarded as neither a challenge to the whole post–Cold War European order nor irredentism to reclaim the territory of the Soviet empire. Consequently, post-Crimea development could herald the closing stage of the historical period called the post-Soviet era as the period of Eurasian decolonization.","PeriodicalId":307724,"journal":{"name":"Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114223741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Freedoms, Security, and Development: Border Exclusion Zones in Post-Soviet Russia","authors":"N. Ryzhova","doi":"10.1353/REG.2020.0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/REG.2020.0013","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Since the early 1990s, the reduction of border barriers has been seen as urgently necessary for the economic development of the Russian Far East. However, these intentions have been constantly weighed against the need to ensure the national security interests, which, in turn, involve restricting the free movement of people. These decisions have affected the way of life in border areas, which have more and more come to resemble economic deserts. Surprisingly though, confronted by a dearth of alternatives, very bad infrastructure, and other problems, residents of border areas have not only not sought to make changes but in fact have frequently even insisted on maintaining restrictions. The present article aims to explain this situation. It focuses on the discourses and practices of national security that influence perceptions of freedoms, and in turn, claims that securitized everyday perceptions of freedoms can affect economic development.","PeriodicalId":307724,"journal":{"name":"Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122374437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"\"Yeast for the Russian Land\": Envisioning the Return of Primorskii Krai's Old Believers","authors":"Lauren Woodard","doi":"10.1353/REG.2020.0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/REG.2020.0012","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:In 2009, Old Believer families began immigrating from South America to Primorskii Krai through the Resettlement of Compatriots Program. Their bright, traditional clothing, rural lifestyle, and mannerisms have enamored many, including a group of compatriots advocates in Moscow, who have decided to lobby for additional state support on the Old Believers' behalf. In Primorskii Krai, though, conflict has arisen between the Old Believers, the local government, and villagers. Officials from Moscow have intervened in support of the Old Believers, exacerbating tensions between central and regional authorities. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this article explores the conflict and compatriots advocates' efforts to attract Old Believers from abroad to the Far East. I argue that the advocates' interest in the Old Believers comes out of racialized anxieties about demographic changes along Russia's border with China. By supporting the Old Believers, advocates envision a rural Russian past as an alternative to a post-Soviet present.","PeriodicalId":307724,"journal":{"name":"Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia","volume":"254 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116880007","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Stuff of Soldiers: A History of the Red Army in World War II through Objects by Brandon M. Schechter (review)","authors":"Kenneth D. Slepyan","doi":"10.1353/reg.2020.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/reg.2020.0002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":307724,"journal":{"name":"Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132223555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The \"Success Story\" of Private Reindeer Husbandry in Iamal? A Look at Herders' Budgets 30 Years After","authors":"S. Zuev","doi":"10.1353/reg.2020.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/reg.2020.0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:In this paper, I discuss current practices of managing family budgets among nomadic reindeer herders of three raiony [municipalities] of the Iamal-Nenets Autonomous Region, Russian Federation. I also give examples of how informal practices of trade and exchange influence the development of reindeer herding in the region as well as the herders' ability to adapt to the market economy. On this basis, I explain why reindeer herders are driven to accumulate large private herds of reindeer despite growing overgrazing problems.","PeriodicalId":307724,"journal":{"name":"Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123959726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Enterprising Empires: Russia and Britain in Eighteenth-Century Eurasia by Matthew P. Romaniello (review)","authors":"C. Leckey","doi":"10.1353/reg.2020.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/reg.2020.0001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":307724,"journal":{"name":"Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129663390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Private-in-the-Collective: Comparing the History and Legacy of Sovkhoism in Poland and Germany","authors":"J. O. Habeck","doi":"10.1353/reg.2020.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/reg.2020.0007","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This contribution seeks to compare the different preconditions and historical dynamics of socialist agriculture in two adjacent regions (northwest Poland and northeast Germany), along with the ways socialist agriculture is remembered and valorized nowadays. Based on interviews and written sources on agricultural history, the author sketches out divergent trajectories of sovkhoism. Comparing the two cases, the author examines how skill, spatial distance between farmhands and managers in a setting of mutual connivance, and ideas about land ownership shaped local varieties of give-and-take, and ultimately, how they informed memories about socialist agriculture.","PeriodicalId":307724,"journal":{"name":"Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia","volume":"43 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131906315","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Birth of the Russian Bear? The Bear Symbol in the Satirical Journals of the Russian Revolution of 1905","authors":"O. Riabov","doi":"10.1353/reg.2020.0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/reg.2020.0008","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The study focuses on the way in which the satirical graphic art of the Russian Revolution of 1905 used the image of the bear to represent revolutionary events and both supporters and opponents of the autocracy. The author comes to the conclusion that this time period saw the emergence of the bear as a political symbol in Russia. The use of the bear as a political image became part of the symbolic struggle in which some political forces sought to delegitimize power, while others pursued the goal of discrediting the revolution. Left-wing journals used the image of the bear to designate both \"us\" and \"them\"; in some cases, the image served as an allegory of the oppressed and rebellious people, and in others it personified the autocracy and its supporters, particularly, the reactionaries of the Black Hundreds. Right-wing journals used the bear image as a symbol representing \"us,\" and the bear was associated only with positive characteristics. Despite the differences mentioned, however, left- and right-wing journals also had something in common: the bear symbol was used to identify \"Russianness,\" with both its positive and negative aspects. In the \"political bestiary,\" therefore, the bear received the status of national animal symbol. At the same time, the semantics of the bear as a political symbol during this period were not yet fully established and it had not yet become an allegory personifying Russia.","PeriodicalId":307724,"journal":{"name":"Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128370937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}