Symbols and Legitimacy in Soviet Politics

Symbols and Legitimacy in Soviet Politics PDF Author: Graeme Gill
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139501224
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 363

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Book Description
Symbols and Legitimacy in Soviet Politics analyses the way in which Soviet symbolism and ritual changed from the regime's birth in 1917 to its fall in 1991. Graeme Gill focuses on the symbolism in party policy and leaders' speeches, artwork and political posters, and urban redevelopment, and on ritual in the political system. He shows how this symbolism and ritual were worked into a dominant metanarrative which underpinned Soviet political development. Gill also shows how, in each of these spheres, the images changed both over the life of the regime and during particular stages: the Leninist era metanarrative differed from that of the Stalin period, which differed from that of the Khrushchev and Brezhnev periods, which was, in turn, changed significantly under Gorbachev. In charting this development, the book lays bare the dynamics of the Soviet regime and a major reason for its fall.

Symbols and Legitimacy in Soviet Politics

Symbols and Legitimacy in Soviet Politics PDF Author: Graeme Gill
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139501224
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 363

Get Book

Book Description
Symbols and Legitimacy in Soviet Politics analyses the way in which Soviet symbolism and ritual changed from the regime's birth in 1917 to its fall in 1991. Graeme Gill focuses on the symbolism in party policy and leaders' speeches, artwork and political posters, and urban redevelopment, and on ritual in the political system. He shows how this symbolism and ritual were worked into a dominant metanarrative which underpinned Soviet political development. Gill also shows how, in each of these spheres, the images changed both over the life of the regime and during particular stages: the Leninist era metanarrative differed from that of the Stalin period, which differed from that of the Khrushchev and Brezhnev periods, which was, in turn, changed significantly under Gorbachev. In charting this development, the book lays bare the dynamics of the Soviet regime and a major reason for its fall.

Symbols and Legitimacy in Soviet Politics

Symbols and Legitimacy in Soviet Politics PDF Author: Graeme J. Gill
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781139078511
Category : Legitimacy of governments
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
Analyses changes in Soviet political symbolism to explain a key dynamic behind the ultimate collapse of the Soviet system.

Symbolism and Regime Change in Russia

Symbolism and Regime Change in Russia PDF Author: Graeme Gill
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 113985206X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
During the Soviet period, political symbolism developed into a coherent narrative that underpinned Soviet political development. Following the collapse of the Soviet regime and its widespread rejection by the Russian people, a new form of narrative was needed, one which both explained the state of existing society and gave a sense of its direction. By examining the imagery contained in presidential addresses, the political system, the public sphere and the urban development of Moscow, Graeme Gill shows how no single coherent symbolic programme has emerged to replace that of the Soviet period. Laying particular emphasis on the Soviet legacy, and especially on the figure of Stalin, Symbolism and Regime Change in Russia explains why it has been so difficult to generate a new set of symbols which could constitute a coherent narrative for the new Russia.

Symbols of Power

Symbols of Power PDF Author: Claes Arvidsson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description


Building an Authoritarian Polity

Building an Authoritarian Polity PDF Author: Graeme Gill
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316425495
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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Book Description
Graeme Gill shows why post-Soviet Russia has failed to achieve the democratic outcome widely expected at the time of the fall of the Soviet Union, instead emerging as an authoritarian polity. He argues that the decisions of dominant elites have been central to the construction of an authoritarian polity, and explains how this occurred in four areas of regime-building: the relationship with the populace, the manipulation of the electoral system, the internal structure of the regime itself, and the way the political elite has been stabilised. Instead of the common 'Yeltsin is a democrat, Putin an autocrat' paradigm, this book shows how Putin built upon the foundations that Yeltsin had laid. It offers a new framework for the study of an authoritarian political system, and is therefore relevant not just to Russia but to many other authoritarian polities.

A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to Its Legacy

A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to Its Legacy PDF Author: Peter Kenez
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316869903
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
This concise yet comprehensive textbook examines political, social, and cultural developments in the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet period. It begins by identifying the social tensions and political inconsistencies that spurred radical change in Russia's government, from the turn of the century to the revolution of 1917. Peter Kenez presents this revolution as a crisis of authority that the creation of the Soviet Union resolved. The text traces the progress of the Soviet Union through the 1920s, the years of the New Economic Policies, and into the Stalinist order. It illustrates how post-Stalin Soviet leaders struggled to find ways to rule the country without using Stalin's methods - but also without openly repudiating the past - and to negotiate a peaceful but antipathetic coexistence with the capitalist West. This updated third edition includes substantial new material, discussing the challenges Russia currently faces in the era of Putin.

The French Revolutionary Tradition in Russian and Soviet Politics, Political Thought, and Culture

The French Revolutionary Tradition in Russian and Soviet Politics, Political Thought, and Culture PDF Author: Jay Bergman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019258037X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 592

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Book Description
Because they were Marxists, the Bolsheviks in Russia, both before and after taking power in 1917, believed that the past was prologue: that embedded in history was a Holy Grail, a series of mysterious, but nonetheless accessible and comprehensible, universal laws that explained the course of history from beginning to end. Those who understood these laws would be able to mould the future to conform to their own expectations. But what should the Bolsheviks do if their Marxist ideology proved to be either erroneous or insufficient-if it could not explain, or explain fully, the course of events that followed the revolution they carried out in the country they called the Soviet Union? Something else would have to perform this function. The underlying argument of this volume is that the Bolsheviks saw the revolutions in France in 1789, 1830, 1848, and 1871 as supplying practically everything Marxism lacked. In fact, these four events comprised what for the Bolsheviks was a genuine Revolutionary Tradition. The English Revolution and the Puritan Commonwealth of the seventeenth century were not without utility-the Bolsheviks cited them and occasionally utilized them as propaganda-but these paled in comparison to what the revolutions in France offered a century later, namely legitimacy, inspiration, guidance in constructing socialism and communism, and, not least, useful fodder for political and personal polemics.

Kazakhstan in the Making

Kazakhstan in the Making PDF Author: Marlene Laruelle
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498525482
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
This collection is a multidisciplinary examination of modern-day Kazakhstan. It analyzes the country’s fast-changing national identity, the current regime’s ongoing quest for popular support, relations between the Kazakh majority and the Russian-speaking minorities, and various other issues.

Memory Politics in Contemporary Russia

Memory Politics in Contemporary Russia PDF Author: Mariëlle Wijermars
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351007181
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
This book examines the societal dynamics of memory politics in Russia. Since Vladimir Putin became president, the Russian central government has increasingly actively employed cultural memory to claim political legitimacy and discredit all forms of political opposition. The rhetorical use of the past has become a defining characteristic of Russian politics, creating a historical foundation for the regime’s emphasis on a strong state and centralised leadership. Exploring memory politics, this book analyses a wide range of actors, from the central government and the Russian Orthodox Church, to filmmaker and cultural heavyweight Nikita Mikhalkov and radical thinkers such as Aleksandr Dugin. In addition, in view of the steady decline in media freedom since 2000, it critically examines the role of cinema and television in shaping and spreading these narratives. Thus, this book aims to gain a better understanding of the various means through which the Russian government practices its memory politics (e.g., the role of state media) and, on the other hand, to sufficiently value the existence of alternative and critical voices and criticism that existing studies tend to overlook. Contributing to current debates in the field of memory studies and of current affairs in Russia and Eastern Europe, this book will be of interest to scholars working in the fields of Russian Studies, Cultural Memory Studies, Nationalism and National Identity, Political Communication, Film, Television and Media Studies.

The Cambridge History of Russia: Volume 1, From Early Rus' to 1689

The Cambridge History of Russia: Volume 1, From Early Rus' to 1689 PDF Author: Maureen Perrie
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521812275
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 25

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Book Description
An authoritative history of Russia from early Rus' to the reign of Peter the Great.