Download PDF Empire of Nations Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union Culture and Society after Socialism Francine Hirsch 8601420501485 Books
Download As PDF : Empire of Nations Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union Culture and Society after Socialism Francine Hirsch 8601420501485 Books
When the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917, they set themselves the task of building socialism in the vast landscape of the former Russian Empire, a territory populated by hundreds of different peoples belonging to a multitude of linguistic, religious, and ethnic groups. Before 1917, the Bolsheviks had called for the national self-determination of all peoples and had condemned all forms of colonization as exploitative. After attaining power, however, they began to express concern that it would not be possible for Soviet Russia to survive without the cotton of Turkestan and the oil of the Caucasus. In an effort to reconcile their anti-imperialist position with their desire to hold on to as much territory as possible, the Bolsheviks integrated the national idea into the administrative-territorial structure of the new Soviet state.
In Empire of Nations, Francine Hirsch examines the ways in which former imperial ethnographers and local elites provided the Bolsheviks with ethnographic knowledge that shaped the very formation of the new Soviet Union. The ethnographers―who drew inspiration from the Western European colonial context―produced all-union censuses, assisted government commissions charged with delimiting the USSR's internal borders, led expeditions to study "the human being as a productive force," and created ethnographic exhibits about the "Peoples of the USSR." In the 1930s, they would lead the Soviet campaign against Nazi race theories . Hirsch illuminates the pervasive tension between the colonial-economic and ethnographic definitions of Soviet territory; this tension informed Soviet social, economic, and administrative structures. A major contribution to the history of Russia and the Soviet Union, Empire of Nations also offers new insights into the connection between ethnography and empire.
Download PDF Empire of Nations Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union Culture and Society after Socialism Francine Hirsch 8601420501485 Books
"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. Mostly the book looks at the first 20 years of Soviet rule, from 1917 when Soviet forces enlisted minorities in the fight against the Whites through to Stalins encouragement of diversity. In the end the programs were abandoned to some degree in the late 1930s as the build up to WWII began, in the aftermath corrupt elites built on this system, creating nationalism, discriminating against ethnic russians and in many cases creating national awareness where non existed before. A good book.
Seth J. Frantzman"
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Tags : Empire of Nations Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union (Culture and Society after Socialism) [Francine Hirsch] on . <P>When the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917, they set themselves the task of building socialism in the vast landscape of the former Russian Empire,Francine Hirsch,Empire of Nations Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union (Culture and Society after Socialism),Cornell University Press,0801489083,Anthropology - General,Russia,Ethnology;Soviet Union.,Minorities;Government policy;Soviet Union.,Soviet Union;Ethnic relations.,Anthropology,Ethnology,Europe - Russia the Former Soviet Union,European history (ie other than Britain Ireland),Government policy,HISTORY / Russia the Former Soviet Union,History,History - General History,History / Russia and the Former USSR,History/World,History World,Minorities,Multicultural,Non-Fiction,SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / General,Scholarly/Graduate,Slavic and Eurasian Studies,Soviet Union,Soviet Union;Ethnic relations.,UNIVERSITY PRESS,United States,World history,Europe - Russia the Former Soviet Union,HISTORY / Russia the Former Soviet Union,SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / General,History - General History,Ethnic relations,Ethnology,Government policy,Minorities,Soviet Union,History,History World,Anthropology,European history (ie other than Britain Ireland),World history
Empire of Nations Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union Culture and Society after Socialism Francine Hirsch 8601420501485 Books Reviews :
Empire of Nations Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union Culture and Society after Socialism Francine Hirsch 8601420501485 Books Reviews
- 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. The three most important of these are first, the assertion that far from a unified consensus, early Bolshevik policy about the division of the USSR was reached through significant debate and compromise. Second, whereas Anderson maintains that Cultural Technologies of Rule act in concert to promote a cohesive discourse on nationalism, Hirsch demonstrates that the rhetoric of Soviet museums often contradicted that of censuses and maps. Third, Hirsch rejects the idea that the borders of soviet republics were drawn to prevent a unified front against Russian, Communist hegemony, and instead stresses their division as part the "double assimilation" on the path to communism - first the assimilation from tribes into nations and then from nations into communist solidarity(14).
Hirsch divides her text into three sections that are both chronological and thematic. Section One covers 1905 to 1924 and focuses on the reception of European ideas on nationalism by tsarist academics and Bolshevik revolutionaries. Chapter One examines the state of ethnography in Russia during the late tsarist period and focuses on the relationship between tsarist ethnographers and Bolshevik thinkers. Chapter Two examines the debate within the Bolshevik Party over territorial organization in the new soviet state, detailing the arguments of those who sought, to establish boundaries determined by national character, or alternatively, by economic specialization. Part Two, covering 1924-1934, examines Anderson's Cultural Technologies of Rule in more detail, as they apply to the soviet use of censuses, maps, and museums. Chapter Three, Four, and Five respectively, are dedicated to each technology. Section Three covers 1931-1941, focusing on the soviet response to Nazi Germany. Chapter Six examines ethnographic and anthropological studies by soviet scientists in Eurasia designed to refute Nazi correlations between racial inferiority and societal advancement. Chapter Seven addresses ethnography in the Great Terror and focuses on the changes in official nationality categories in the 1937 and 1939 censuses, as well as the introduction of internal passports and the NKVD's use of ethnographic data. An epilogue extends the significance of early soviet decisions beyond the collapse of the USSR.
This is a well-written and complex monograph based on significant original research and is meticulously annotated. The fluidity with which Hirsch handles both qualitative and quantitative sources is impressive, as is her ability to build a well-organized narrative that utilizes a multidisciplinary approach. The book is highly recommended for graduate and undergraduate Russian history students, and for those interested in ethnography or Empire. Hirsch's deft management of her three-part narrative allows each section to simultaneously support the others, and to stand on its own as a cogent whole. The effect of this structure is to produce a work that is engaging and informative for both academics and for enthusiasts. - 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. Mostly the book looks at the first 20 years of Soviet rule, from 1917 when Soviet forces enlisted minorities in the fight against the Whites through to Stalins encouragement of diversity. In the end the programs were abandoned to some degree in the late 1930s as the build up to WWII began, in the aftermath corrupt elites built on this system, creating nationalism, discriminating against ethnic russians and in many cases creating national awareness where non existed before. A good book.
Seth J. Frantzman
