Soviet and post-Soviet Studies

Czesław Miłosz once labeled Russia as “a big void to the East”. The task of our group is to respond to this void by sharing the ideas and expertise across the departments of the EUI. We are interested in everything that we see in geographical, temporal, or ideological proximity to the history of the Soviet Union and politics of post-Soviet Eurasia. From empires to nation-states, from everyday life to power politics, and from Finland to Central Asia to Cuba - we appreciate any comparative studies that put socialist and post-socialist experiences into a broader context. The group is interdepartmental, and scholars from economics, sociology, history and political science are warmly invited. As a part of Soviet and Post-Soviet Working Group we also discuss various Jewish experiences in Europe (predominantly in 19th and 20th centuries). We aim to assess modern Jewish politics in Central/Eastern Europe as well as the impacts imperial and national developments had for the Jewish population of the region. We are especially welcoming comparative and transnational approaches.