Synopses & Reviews
How was it that after seventy years of communist dictatorship, political life returned to Russia? This book addresses that question by focusing on the individuals, groups and movements that brought this about, their struggles against the Soviet regime, and the ways in which these struggles shaped Russia's political rebirth. As well as offering an original theory of Soviet society, the book is richly informed by the observations and interpretations of participants and close observers, and traces the process through the communist past and the revolution of 1991, to the political system of today.
Review
"...this book is a good example of theoretical clarity and recent history." D. McIntosh, Choice
Review
"...offers a valuable account of the rise of the informal movement in late Soviet Russia....the authors are to be congratulated for providing a thorough and uniquely knowledgeable analysis of an important problem." The Russian Review
Review
"...a comprehensive study of the origins and course of emergence of post-communist politics in Russia. ...a valuable contribution to the slim body of literature on the political groupings and organizations which brought about Russia's peaceful revolution." Andreas Umland, H-Net Reviews
Review
"...on of the first books that seeks to explain change and continuity in the Soviet/Russian political system both before and after the Soviet collapse." Michael Mc Faul, American Journal of Sociology
Synopsis
By focusing on the popular forces which accomplished Russia's political rebirth, rather than the reforms of the Soviet establishment, this book offers an original perspective on this critical period.
Synopsis
How was it that after seventy years of communist dictatorship, political life returned to Russia? This book addresses that question by focusing on the individuals, groups and movements which brought this about, their strugg les against the Soviet regime, and the ways in which these struggles shaped Russia's political rebirth. As well as offering an original theory of Soviet society, the book is richly informed by the observations and interpretations of participants and close observers, and traces the process through the communist past and the revolution of 1991, to the political system of today.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-414) and index.
Table of Contents
Part I. The Pre-Political Context: 1. Politics and communism: figure and ground; 2. Regime and opposition in the pre-political period; Part II. Perestroika and the Return of Political Life: 3. Perestroika: renewal, transition or transformation; 4. Glasnost, mass media and the emergence of political society; 5. The informal movement: politics on the margins of the Soviet order; 6. National elections and mass politics; Part III. Politics and Revolution: 7. The politics of opposition; 8. The 1990 elections and the politics of national liberation; 9. Parties in movement: the articulation of Russian political society at the close of the Soviet period; 10. Restoration and revolution; Part IV. Ground Up: Politics in Post-Communist Russia: 11. Reform, reaction and rebellion: the calamity of the first republic; 12. Neither democracy nor dictatorship.