Soviet, post-Soviet, Russian politics

The chapter explains the initial reaction by Stalin to the invasion, in terms of a certain relaxation of religious and language restrictions and a call to arms going beyond Communist ideology and practice. Next, the social changes brought to Central Asia by the war are examined, including the evacuation of some industries (and the resulting demographic and economic structural changes), the deportation of peoples from the Caucasus and the presence of German POWs. The chapter also discusses the post-war narrative of the conflict, its place in the concept of "Soviet Man", and its contribution to Central Asian and post-Soviet identities.

This paper employs a visual research method to examine how companies in Russia, both domestic and foreign, use packaging to construct their brand identity. We analyze the packaging of two product categories in particular, namely chocolate and vodka, and show how packaging is exploited to generate certain types of myths, both about the brand itself and – crucially – about Russia and Russianness. The paper’s contribution lies in the fact that its extends the pioneering work on packaging by Kniazeva and Belk into historical, cultural and anthropological realms. Adopting a pluridisiplinary approach, we draw on concepts from both semiotics (Roland Barthes’s ‘mythologies’) and literary criticism (Gérard Genette’s notion of the ‘palimpsest’). As we show, a large number of brands in Russia build their identity around images associated in one way or another with the country’s past. They do so primarily via packaging design. The visual codes used are predominantly those of Imperial Russia, although at times there are also allusions to much older iconographic systems. Each of the brands discussed participates in its own way in the construction of a myth, that of Great Russia. In the light of our findings, greater attention needs to be paid both to the role packaging plays in marketing, and to the socio-historical context in which marketing is itself conducted.

"Analyzing the questions of political leadership in the period between the year  1989 and 2009, it is essential to indicate the aims and stages of the series of changes and, expressed mainly by the level the political elites’ development and parliamentary elections. After 1989, a total collapse of the Soviet ideological monopoly has taken place, not only in Moldova, but also in other socialist countries, therefore shaping a new set of rules  governing the political life and leadership. Changes of the system that have taken place in the Republic of Moldova should be treated as a result of the following factors: the formation of the independence movement and the National Front, and  the global and logistics support of the international institutions to strengthen the statehood and the social affirmation in the country.
Since its independence, the Republic of Moldova, witnesses an ongoing struggle for shaping the state  regime and the future model of political leadership.  Years 1991-2009 have become a visible example of a leadership characterized as authoritarian and autocratic. Political elites were characterized as  "disabled" in relation to the role of Russia in the region. This condition has still been observed , despite many reforms that have been introduced. The institution of political leadership in the Republic of Moldova in 1989-2009 was deprived of social authority, which in turn made the country's political system a non-consolidated one.
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"_Unvarnishing Reality_ draws original insight to the literature, politics, history, and culture of the cold war by closely examining the themes and goals of American and Russian satirical fiction. As Derek Maus illustrates, the paranoia of nuclear standoff provided a subversive storytelling mode for authors from both nations--including Thomas Pynchon, Robert Coover, John Barth, Walker Percy, Don DeLillo, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Vasily Aksyonov, Yuz Aleshkovsky, Alexander Zinoviev, Vladimir Voinovich, Fazil Iskander, and Sasha Sokolov."

REVIEWS:

"The breadth of Maus's critical reading is impressive and sets his text apart from other treatments of Cold War literature that include Soviet and/or Russian material.[...] Highly recommended."

  -- Brian Diemert, _Choice_ (Dec. 2011)

"Maus's study constantly engages in suggestive juxtapositions between American and Russian works that shed fresh light on their narrative practices."

  -- David Seed, _Utopian Studies_ 23.2 (2012)

"Maus has read voluminously in his subject, both in the literature and in critical studies [...]. He is to be applauded for his fresh readings of dystopian classics as well as for bringing lesser-known writers into the story.[...] If a reader is looking for a quick survey of Russian and American Cold War fiction, this is it."

    -- Denise Youngblood, _Slavic Review_ 71.3 (Fall 2012)

"Maus’s analysis of the individual texts will give the reader new ways of thinking about them. Historians who work on the cultural history of the era will no doubt want to consider the insights he offers into the language and philosophy of satirical fiction."

  -- Mara Drogan, _Cold War History_ 13.2 (2013)

"On the US side, the closest analogy to the totalitarian system is the totalizing drive of certain languages—anticommunist, mediatic-consumerist, bureaucratic, technologically utopian—chiefly in the American 1950s and then again in the 1980s [...] To be sure, none of these coalesce into the langue de bois (the “wooden tongue”) that all but takes over public discourse in the East, nor do they enjoy the logistical and institutional backing afforded by the Kremlin apparatus, Pynchonian paranoia notwithstanding. And yet, Maus is right: the satire of mainstream, institutional, or 'official' idioms is one kind of literature that formally and thematically can be said to bring together—and thus render comparable—writers from saliently different systems."

  -- Christian Moraru, _American Literature_ 85.2 (June 2013)

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"This thesis examines the introduction of compulsory medical insurance in the Russian Federation in the 1990s as part of the re-structuring of welfare in the years after communism. The reforms brought in strong decentralisation of governance in comparison to Soviet rule. Minimal national legislation and guidance, subsequent adjustments in the face of implementation problems and a pattern of “negotiated federalism” have led to wide variation in regional systems within Russia. This thesis looks in particular at implementation in two federal units (from 89): Volgograd Oblast’ and St. Petersburg City.

In the first part, it considers the decision to introduce insurance in the context of the international health care debate, and examines the relationship between health care reform and broader issues of the “transition” away from communism to the market. Particular attention is drawn to how these two discourses in practice have run contrary to each other. It also documents experimental internal market health reform in the Gorbachev era in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), as well as the genesis, formulation and implementation of health insurance at the national level.

The main body of the thesis considers the development of compulsory health insurance in the two research sites, drawing primarily on interview data from 34 interviews with representatives of the main actors within the new system –the municipal administration, parastatal funds and insurance companies – as well as representatives of the health care workforce. Of particular significance is found to be: the impact of financial shortages on the viability of insurance; the extent to which elements of Russian local government reform can undermine regional health care governance; the innovation of decentralisation and the introduction of elements of contract and negotiation in place of vertical command and control structures; and conflict between parastatal health funds and insurance companies. In general the St. Petersburg system was more successful than that in Volgograd. The former was fortunate in its local government structures and in its legacy of institutional reform in health care, but also key policy choices have simplified the systems operation. In Volgograd Oblast’ the system suffers from over complexity, institutional conflict and a lack of clear and effective governance structures.

Using testimony and analysis from Russian newspaper and journal archives these issues are explored across Russia. Regional statistical material drawn from a wide range of sources is employed to consider what might be the main determinants/pre-conditions (economic, political, demographic) in system design.

Drawing five main conclusions in relation to the material above, the thesis additionally argues that “marketisation”, although partly the inspiration for the new system, is unhelpful as an analytical tool; that the main strength of the reforms has been to stabilise health care financing, but that without sufficient funds it may serve to reinforce Soviet-era distributional inefficiencies rather than solve them.
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"Книга посвящена малоизученному аспекту духовной жизни
мусульманских общин средневолжского региона: суфийским
практикам, воплощенным в традиции ишанизма в период с начала до конца XX века, элементам культа святых мест. На основании малоизученных материалов зарубежной, российской историографии и источниковых данных дается ретроспективный анализ конкретных религиозных практик, форм взаимодействия суфийских адептов и государства, делается вывод о направленности, историческом значении исследуемых явлений, а также о перспективах ишанизма на Средней Волге в XXI веке.
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