Overview

Russian youth culture has been a subject of great interest to researchers since 1991. This volume engages theories of cultural globalization to chart how post-Soviet Russia's opening up to the West has been reflected in the cultural practices of its young people. Visitors to Russia's cities often interpret the presence of designer clothes shops, Internet cafes and a vibrant club scene as evidence of ""Westernization"" of Russian youth. As this work shows, however, the younger generation has adopted a ""pick and mix"" strategy with regard to Western cultural commodities that reflects a receptiveness to the global alongside a precious guarding of the local. The authors show us how young people perceive Russia to be positioned in current global flows of cultural exchange, what their sense of Russia's place in the new global order is, and how they manage to ""live with the West"" on a daily basis.

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Reviews

Looking West? is timely, well conceived, and an excellent amalgam of original sociological research, social and cultural theory, and comparative analysis. Hilary Pilkington and her colleagues have produced a work that will surely become the standard source on the topic for years to come. Thomas Cushman, Wellesley College

In this excellent book, five authors look at post-Soviet youth culture, and in particular at how Russian youth perceive 'the West'. --Cordula Gdaniec, H-Net Reviews in the Humanities and Social Sciences Though these are important omissions, it is hard to ask more from a volume that already does so much. Ultimately, the authors promote a rethinking of how cultural globalization is studied and framed. But through this dedicated collaborative effort--a model of international co-authorship that itself constitutes an important contribution to the literature--the authors throw into question some of the central premises of globalization talk, including the experiential validity of the term periphery and the assumption that national cultures are in decline. --Naomi Roslyn Galtz, Social Forces Looking West? is timely, well conceived, and an excellent amalgam of original sociological research, social and cultural theory, and comparative analysis. Hilary Pilkington and her colleagues have produced a work that will surely become the standard source on the topic for years to come. --Thomas Cushman, Wellesley College

Though these are important omissions, it is hard to ask more from a volume that already does so much. Ultimately, the authors promote a rethinking of how cultural globalization is studied and framed.But through this dedicated collaborative effort--a model of international co-authorship that itself constitutes an important contribution to the literature--the authors throw into question some of the central premises of globalization talk, including the experiential validity of the term periphery and the assumption that national cultures are in decline. --Naomi Roslyn Galtz, Social Forces In this excellent book, five authors look at post-Soviet youth culture, and in particular at how Russian youth perceive 'the West'. --Cordula Gdaniec, H-Net Reviews in the Humanities and Social Sciences Looking West? is timely, well conceived, and an excellent amalgam of original sociological research, social and cultural theory, and comparative analysis. Hilary Pilkington and her colleagues have produced a work that will surely become the standard source on the topic for years to come. --Thomas Cushman, Wellesley College

Looking West? is timely, well conceived, and an excellent amalgam of original sociological research, social and cultural theory, and comparative analysis. Hilary Pilkington and her colleagues have produced a work that will surely become the standard source on the topic for years to come. --Thomas Cushman, Wellesley College

Author Information

Hilary Pilkington is Deputy Director of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Birmingham. Elena Omel'chenko is Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre ""Region"" at Ul'ianovsk State University. Moya Flynn is ESRC postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Birmingham. Elena Starkova is head of the Sociological Laboratory, Ul'ianovsk State University. Ul'iana Bliudina is research associate of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre ""Region"" and a doctoral student at the Centre for Social Studies, Central European University, Warsaw.

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