This course takes a look at a decade that was legendary at the time and has become infamous now: the Soviet and post-Soviet 1990s. After the sudden collapse of communist rule in the early part of the decade, the remaining years became a dramatic political, economic and cultural struggle to define what kind of countries and societies the ex-Soviet Union should become. It was a time of excruciating personal financial hardship for many and stunning gain of wealth for some. It was years saturated with crime, corruption and insecurity yet also artistic curiosity and unprecedented internationalisation. Despite Putin’s repeated invocation of this era as justification of his repressive policies, the 1990s are gradually being rediscovered as an era of possibility as well as failure, resilience as well as collapse. This course will take a quizzical and critical multi look at an epoch that has turned out to be crucial in setting the stage of things to come.
- Instructor: Juliane Fuerst