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?
Author: admin
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 Russian Rock’n’Roll, Avoiding Mind Control? by A. Nelson
Thanks for walking us through the “Barbarossa Rock-N-Roll” article today! This post really caught people’s attention.
Comment on When I Was Young We Played Outside by A. Nelson
So many good insights here, and I love the photo of the 1957 TV (Rubin 102). I have to say that I think Soviet and American parents may have had common complaints about the adverse effects of “screen time.”
Comment on Physical Sports & Politics by A. Nelson
The article you cite from the Current Digest is really interesting in terms of the angle the Soviet took — highlighting the fact that 85 countries chose to participate minimized the importance of the 29 who stayed away.
Comment on A Bright New Future? by A. Nelson
You’ve given us a lot to think about in this post, which discusses how speculative fiction could both affirm and question the paradigm of socialist realism. I really like the discussion of Solaris and Stalker. I hope Emma and Nick read this post.
P.S. Do have a look at the first couple of sentences. The thoughts are great, but the prose needs a bit of help (and more careful punctuation.)
Comment on Fighting in Afghanistan Never Works by A. Nelson
I like the way you incorporate documents of the military conflict with the cultural artifacts (songs). The 9th company anthem is especially powerful, and the newspaper article from the Current Digest suggests how hard it was for troops serving in Afghanistan. So, why doesn’t fighting in Afghanistan ever work?
Comment on Just Another Proxy War by A. Nelson
The points I wanted to make have already been raised here — by Caroline, who notes that we see don’t see this as an Afghan issue (which is a problem, IMO!), and by Cameron, whose questions about the US’s involvement are right on point.
Did you check out the Current Digest and see how this episode was covered in the Soviet press?
Comment on Comrades of the Traveling Pants by A. Nelson
Terrific newspaper sources here as well!
Comment on Comrades of the Traveling Pants by A. Nelson
I really appreciate the way you’ve delved into the ironies of the black market and the tastes of Soviet consumers. The whole jeans thing is really fascinating — because, then and now, it couldn’t be just “any” pair of jeans. There was a hierarchy of desireability — from Soviet made jeans (least desireable), to East German (and other Eastern Blok) products, to Chinese (American knock-offs), to LEVI’s the genuine article.
