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Empire of Nations: Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union (Culture and Society after Socialism) 1st Edition

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Francine Hirsch (Author)
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5 out of 5 stars 2 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 860-1420501485
ISBN-10: 0801489083
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  • Empire of Nations: Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union (Culture and Society after Socialism)
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  • The Affirmative Action Empire: Nations and Nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923-1939 (The Wilder House Series in Politics, History and Culture)
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Product Details

  • Series: Culture and Society after Socialism
  • Paperback: 392 pages
  • Publisher: Cornell University Press; 1 edition (May 10, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0801489083
  • ISBN-13: 978-0801489082
  • Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.2 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #333,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 starsInteresting and Worth the Read
By Amazon Customer on November 14, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Adding to a growing body of literature dedicated to reexamining the nature of the Soviet Union in the wake of its 1991 breakup, Empire of Nations builds on scholarship that emphasizes the multi-ethnicity of the Russian empire, that preferences the nationality question as critical to the USSR's foundation, and that situates the soviet engagement with nationalism within a larger European discourse of national identity. Hirsch adds to the historiography by moving away from what she calls "descriptive" narratives of the USSR's formation, and towards an explanatory narrative that focuses on the "how and why"(4). At its core, Hirsch's explanation emphasizes the interplay between ethnography and Marxist-Leninist ideology.

In short, Hirsch argues that to set in motion their goal of producing a unified communist state, the Bolsheviks incorporated ethnographic knowledge into their social planning for the population. Ethnographic knowledge significantly influenced the creation of officially recognized "nationalities," territorial boundaries, and the construction of personal identity in the USSR - and continues to do so in the post-soviet states. Furthermore, referencing Benedict Anderson, Hirsch argues that the Bolsheviks solidified these divisions in the population, partly through the top-down implementation of "Cultural Technologies of Rule" and partly because they were adopted by local actors seeking to use this discourse of nationalism to their advantage (12). Finally, this ethnographic emphasis allows Hirsch to focus her narrative so as to challenge some prevailing tenets of soviet historiography.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsA good addition
By Seth J. Frantzman HALL OF FAME on June 18, 2005
Format: Paperback
There has been much new scholarship on the Soviet 'Empire' in Central Asia in recent years. This book builds on others such as 'State of Nations', 'Vieled Empire' and 'Affirmitive Action Empire' to explain how Soviet ethnographers tried to shape the new Russian state. Several themes were common. The Soviets were devout anti-imperialists, and the Russian people as a distinctive state ceased to exist after they attained power, in place of the U.S.S.R became a state of 'nations' whereby different ethnic minorities not only were preferred in the state but new nations were created.

The second theme is that of Russia as an 'Empire'. Recent scholarship shows how Russia used 'colonial methods' to extrapolate and study and compile census's of the peoples that inhabited russia. The problem with this line of reasoning is two fold. First it is unequivacally a fact that Russia raised the awareness of the peoples they encountered, bringing them alphabets and encoruaging native literature. At the same time it is not neccesarily 'colonial' to want to census the people that live in your country. However the theory is that all this understanding ethnicity work had colonial overtones.

Leaving this behind this is a fascinating, illuminating and wonderful work that opens a door unto the multitude of peoples that inhabited soviet Russia. In many places where a people existed that had no boundaries, no written language and no schalarly culture the Soviets created local elites, education systems and drew boundaries where the minority would be a majority.

Russia became an 'empire of nations' in this manner.Read more ›
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