Soviet Society in the Era of Late Socialism, 1964–1985

"What did it mean to be a Soviet citizen in the 1970s and 1980s? How can we explain the liberalization that preceded the collapse of the USSR? This period in Soviet history is often depicted as stagnant with stultified institutions and the oppression of socialist citizens. However, the socialist state was not simply an oppressive institution that dictated how to live and what to think -- it also responded to and was shaped by individuals' needs. In Soviet Society in the Era of Late Socialism, 1964-85, Neringa Klumbyte and Gulnaz Sharafutdinova bring together scholarship examining the social and cultural life of the USSR and Eastern Europe from 1964 to 1985. This interdisciplinary and comparative study explores topics such as the Soviet middle class, individualism, sexuality, health, late-socialist ethics, and civic participation. Examining this often overlooked era provides the historical context for all post-socialist political, economic, and social developments."--Provided by publisher AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: What Was Late Socialism? By Neringa Klumbyte and Gulnaz Sharafutdinova1. Plutonium Enriched: Making Bombs and Middle-Classes By Kate Brown2. A Middle Class without Capitalism? Socialist Ideology and Post-Collectivist Discourse in the Late Soviet Era By Anna Paretskaya3. "Cultural Wars" in the Closed City of Soviet Ukraine, 1959-82By Sergei I. Zhuk4. Soviet Ethical Citizenship: Morality, the State, and Laughter in Late Soviet LithuaniaBy Neringa Klumbyte5. Pluralizing Practices in Late-Socialist Moscow: Russian Alternative Practitioners Reclaim and Redefine IndividualismBy Larisa Honey6. Football in the Era of "Changing Stagnation": The Case of Spartak MoscowBy Robert Edelman7. Beyond the Genres of Stagnation: Reading the Allure of I. Grekova's The Hotel ManagerBy Benjamin M. Sutcliffe8. Raped with Politburon: Bawdy Humor and Disempowerment in Yuz Aleshkovsky's ProseBy Olga LivshinAfterword: Postcard from Berlin: Rethinking the Juncture of Late Socialism and Late Liberalism in EuropeBy Dominic BoyerBibliographyAbout the AuthorsIndex Introduction: what was late socialism? / Neringa Klumbytė and Gulnaz Sharafutdinova Plutonium enriched: making bombs and middle-classes / Kate Brown A middle class without capitalism? socialist ideology and post-collectivist discourse in the late Soviet era / Anna Paretskaya "Cultural wars" in the closed city of Soviet Ukraine, 1959-82 / Sergei I. Zhuk Soviet ethical citizenship: morality, the state, and laughter in late Soviet Lithuania / Neringa Klumbytė Pluralizing practices in late-socialist Moscow: Russian alternative practitioners reclaim and redefine individualism / Larisa Honey Football in the era of "changing stagnation": the case of Spartak Moscow / Robert Edelman Beyond the genres of stagnation: reading the allure of I. Grekova's "The hotel manager" / Benjamin M. Sutcliffe Raped with politburon: bawdy humor and disempowerment in Yuz Aleshkovsky's prose / Olga Livshin Afterword: postcard from Berlin: rethinking the juncture of late socialism and late liberalism in Europe / Dominic Boyer. In Soviet Society in the Era of Late Socialism, 1964–85, Neringa Klumbyte and Gulnaz Sharafutdinova bring together scholarship examining the social and cultural life of the USSR and Eastern Europe from 1964 to 1985. This interdisciplinary and comparative study explores topics such as the Soviet middle class, individualism, sexuality, health, late-socialist ethics, and civic participation. The socialist state was not simply an oppressive institution that dictated how to live and what to think—it also responded to and was shaped by individuals’ needs. In Soviet Society in the Era of Late Socialism, 1964–85, Neringa Klumbyte and Gulnaz Sharafutdinova bring together scholarship examining the social and cultural life of the USSR and Eastern Europe from 1964 to 1985.