Beyond nostalgia? Class identity, memory and the Soviet past in Russia and the ‘near abroad’

Morrison, Claudio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3041-8606 (2014) Beyond nostalgia? Class identity, memory and the Soviet past in Russia and the ‘near abroad’. In: 14th International Scientific Conference on Economic and Social Development. Yasin, E. G., ed. High School of Economics, Moscow, pp. 108-114. ISBN 9785759811220. [Book Section]

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Abstract

This paper explores the role of memory in the emergence of a new working class identity in the post-soviet space. Intellectuals have looked at popular nostalgia for socialism with disdain: the legacy of ‘totalitarian mentality’ preventing democratic citizenship and reproducing passive dependency from the state. On the basis of findings from case study research, this paper argues that workers have developed memories of the soviet past which are distinct from official discourse. These have become a yardstick for critically engaging with the new social reality of ‘market democracy’ as well as an important tool to legitimize mobilization in the workplace. Beyond the simplistic ‘before it was better’ argument there is more understanding of the social constraints of both Stalinism and the new capitalist order than the unsuspecting liberal intellectual would admit.

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