All are welcome to this talk from Pavel Khazanov of Rutgers University on how late-Soviet and early-1990s cultural narratives shaped Russia's educated urban population. In August 1991, Russian liberals facing an abortive Communist Party coup believed the archetypal conflict between enlightened few and teeming masses might not remain Russia's destiny. By 1993, these hopes collapsed. For thirty years after, fear of an illiberal nation drove many liberals to enable modern Russian authoritarianism. Where did the hopes of 1991 originate? Did liberals misunderstand the cultural origins of the post-Soviet middle class?

Tuesday 29 April, 5:30pm, Nihon Room, Pembroke College or online - see Zoom link below