Destination in Doubt

Russia Since 1989

Stephen Lovell

The enormously complex changes triggered by the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe were nowhere more ambiguous than in the heartland of the Soviet bloc, Russia itself. Here the population was divided on all the most fundamental questions of post-communist transition: economic reforms, the Communist Party, the borders of the state, even the definition of the Russian “nation” itself. Russians also faced plummeting living standards and chronic uncertainty. In a matter of months, Russia was apparently demoted from “evil empire” to despondent poor relation of the prosperous West. Yet the country also seemed alarmingly open to all manner of political outcomes. This book stands back from the turbulent post-Soviet era and inquires into the nature of the “Second Russian Revolution”. It argues that Russia deserves our attention now as much as ever, because it raises so many of the big questions about how societies operate in the modern world.

Contents

• Introduction 
• 1. What Was Soviet Socialism? 
• 2. The State: Death and Rebirth? 
• 3. Democratization? 
• 4. Birth of a Nation? 
• 5. A Free Market? 
• 6. Surviving Post-Communism 
• 7. Russia’s War on Terror

About the Author

Currently a Reader in Modern European History, Stephen Lovell joined the department in 2002 following a postdoctoral fellowship at St John’s College, Oxford. He received his MA and PhD from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), University of London, after studying for his BA at King’s College, Cambridge.

Stephen Lovell’s primary research interests lie in the social and cultural history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Russia. Current research includes an edited volume on generations in twentieth-century Europe and a history of Soviet radio. In 2005, Stephen was awarded the 2005 Best Book in Literature and Culture from the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages for Summerfolk: A History of the Dacha, 1710-2000, a book on the Russian out-of-town weekend or summer house. His latest book is a history of Russia since the fall of the Berlin Wall entitled Destination in Doubt: Russia since 1989.