I like that you made a connection between this group and the “white trash” stereotype in America. It’s interesting to me how, internationally, groups in lower socioeconomic classes are seen as trashy or inherently annoying in nature.
Month: April 2018
Comment on The lads of Liubertsy by A. Nelson
What a great topic! I really appreciate the way you’ve teased out the contradictory attitudes and behaviors of the Liubers. I find their appropriation of the counter culture (hippies, punks and break dancers) in the name of their own version of the same to be absolutely fascinating.
Comment on All the Lies We Cannot See: Operation Infektion and HIV/AIDS in the Soviet Union by whitlockg
I really liked your post! And that we both wrote on the same topic and used similar sources but still analyzed uniquely! I think you offer some great insight to the pure fear that revolved around HIV/AIDS and how that fear manifests in false accounts and suspicions! I also really like the visuals you used!
Comment on Explosion? What explosion? by A. Nelson
That TV news cast is really something! Can you understand the Russian? It’s kind of chilling, given what we know was actually happening. Check out this ABC news report from May 14 (18 days after the explosion!) where you can get Gorbachev’s first public announcement about the disaster (with English subtitles). https://youtu.be/0k3wnXBE5S0
Comment on The Godfather: Russian Edition by A. Nelson
The Russian Mafia (“bratstvo” means “brotherhood”) is an important post-Soviet topic. How does this connect to the end of the Soviet Union? Was the corruption of the late Soviet period a precursor to the post-Soviet mafia? Were there particular aspects of the way the national wealth was “privatized” that facilitated the mafia’s rise? Who exactly were they?
Comment on The lads of Liubertsy by smaloney
Pretty cool stuff, from your blog post though it seems like the Liubers were just looking for easy targets to beat up and rob. If the police aren’t willing to protect these western culture lovers, then the Liubers had little to no fear of retaliation of any sort. And if they’re selling the items they’re stealing instead of trying to destroy these western cultural item, it just makes the Liubers look like a bunch of convoluted criminals.
Comment on All the Lies We Cannot See: Operation Infektion and HIV/AIDS in the Soviet Union by A. Nelson
I love your recounting of the detective story behind the Soviet Union’s dissemination of the rumors about HIV/AIDs — as if there weren’t enough of them already! You made “all the lies we cannot see” visible — and used a terrific array of sources to document your narrative. I remember being in the Soviet Union when the narrative (and stigma) around AIDS began to change. I was acquainted with a graduate student who was working on the treatment of Kaposi’s sarcoma and remember when she first began to openly discuss it’s connections with AIDS — so, this would be just after the Novikov article you cite. My sense was that many health care workers and researchers had been doing what they could to understand the disease before Gorbachev signaled a shift in the official policy.
Also, your post helps me see the current struggles around manipulating public opinion in a new way. Thanks!
Comment on AIDS and the “high-risk” group. by whitlockg
It is unfortunate! I would say that when we look at the time frame these stigmas existed publicly and intensely just 20 to 30 years ago. I think Emma did a great job of talking about more modern implications of the crisis in Russia! https://emmajeanhistory.wordpress.com/2018/04/26/all-the-lies-we-cannot-see-operation-infektion-and-hiv-aids-in-the-soviet-union/#more-113
Comment on AIDS and the “high-risk” group. by whitlockg
I think one of the largest reason we still see this stigmatization persist is that often information doesn’t transcend prejudice. The hyper sexualization of queer people and the stigmatization that queer/LGBTQ people are more likely to harbor STDs and HIV/AIDS continues to persist today, and as a queer person it’s difficult to understand that stigma against me. I don’t know much about the AIDS stigma in 21st century Russia but I do know that the Russian stigma towards LGBT individuals in general is scary, I could definitely see the stigma around AIDS being especially harmful! Thanks!
Comment on Nothing More Russian than Vodka…Right? by Diana Schulberg
What an interesting post! I do wonder why alcoholism was so rampant and why the treatment of such was so humorous? Where does the comparison and contrast come in play with Prohibition in the 1920’s in America? I would think the way of hiding alcohol in plain sight or even speakeasy type places might be something in common. What level is the alcoholism problem at today?
