The Weight of the Soviet Past in Post-1991 Russia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12748165 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andrea Graziosi (0000-0002-1178-3085, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 89-125 |
| Publication date | 2021-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Cold War Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1520-3972 • E-ISSN: 1531-3298 |
| Publisher | The MIT Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1162/jcws_a_00969 |
| OpenAlex | W3159861698 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
This article evaluates Soviet legacies in post-Soviet Russia. Far from being static phenomena, these legacies change over time. The article highlights the problems, fault lines, weaknesses, and strengths the USSR handed down to Russia, detailing their impact on political elites and the wider population. The analysis is divided into four sections: (1) comparative horizons of the Soviet/Russian case; (2) "imperial" legacies, such as borders, diasporas, flows of migration, and the consequences of Soviet repression; (3) the weight of received ideas and mindsets; and (4) the societal and economic features bequeathed by the Soviet Union's peculiar mode of modernization. The article confirms that the legacy was extremely burdensome but not so overwhelming that it precluded substantial leeway for choice. Unfortunately, the mentalities and habits inherited from the USSR contributed to the mistakes made in the 1990s and the subsequent authoritarian retrenchment
Economic history · Economics · Political science · Politics · Soviet union · Law · Russia and Soviet political economy · Soviet and Russian History
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |