Overview

Soviet socialism was based on paradoxes that were revealed by the peculiar experience of its collapse. To the people who lived in that system the collapse seemed both completely unexpected and completely unsurprising. At the moment of collapse it suddenly became obvious that Soviet life had always seemed simultaneously eternal and stagnating, vigorous and ailing, bleak and full of promise. Although these characteristics may appear mutually exclusive, in fact they were mutually constitutive. This book explores the paradoxes of Soviet life during the period of ""late socialism"" (1960s-1980s) through the eyes of the last Soviet generation. Focusing on the major transformation of the 1950s at the level of discourse, ideology, language, and ritual, Alexei Yurchak traces the emergence of multiple unanticipated meanings, communities, relations, ideals, and pursuits that this transformation subsequently enabled. His historical, anthropological, and linguistic analysis draws on rich ethnographic material from Late Socialism and the post-Soviet period.

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Alexei Yurchak is professor of anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. After thirty-two years serving in the Intelligence Community using his voice for different purposes, Bob Johnson decided to continue that passion narrating audiobooks, still bringing stories to life and as different characters. While he still enjoys a good spy thriller, he is equally thrilled to narrate mysteries, true crime, romance and, of course, nonfiction. When he's not in his home studio in Reston, Virginia, you can normally find Bob either behind the mic announcing Maryland sports or in the stands cheering on the Terps.

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