From a Totalitarian State to an Open Society? De-Stalinisation in the Soviet Union

From a Totalitarian State to an Open Society? De-Stalinisation in the Soviet Union

Veranstalter
Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen; Gießener Zentrum Östliches Europa (GiZo); Gerda Henkel Stiftung
Veranstaltungsort
Schloss Rauischholzhausen, Ferdinand-von-Stumm-Straße, 35085 Ebsdorfergrund-Rauischholzhausen
Ort
Ebsdorfergrund-Rauischholzhausen
Land
Deutschland
Vom - Bis
09.02.2012 - 12.02.2012
Website
Von
Michel Abesser, Thomas Bohn, Rayk Einax

There are many differing interpretations of the Khrushchev-Era, or the era of ‘De-Stalinization’, in the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the period between 1953 and 1964 remains vague, since no one has been able to define the term “De-Stalinization” in a valid and concise way.

Publications about the Khrushchev years only appear sporadically in German- or English-language historical research. This is in stark contrast to the topic of Stalinism, which dominates the current interest of historians. In the last few years, however, there have been a series of impulses from the Anglo-Saxon space, which is evident, for example, in an edition of ‘The Slavonic and East European Review’ from 2008 entitled “The Relaunch of the Soviet Project, 1945-1964”.

The conference organizers suggest that, in both the German-speaking and the international context, there is a certain need to take stock of and discuss the base of prospective research into this era, free of the rigid frame of ‘contemporary history’ or other established historical concepts. In order to meet this aim, relevant experts will be invited from Germany, Great Britain, Russia and the USA to present their papers.

Programm

Conference program

Thursday, 9th February 2012
Arrival

20.00 Opening lecture (impulse)

Chair: Thomas Bohn (Gießen)
Stefan Plaggenborg (Bochum): Post-Stalinism – An Epoch?

Friday, 10th February 2012

9.00-12.30 Panel 1: Society

Chair: Steven Bittner (Sonoma)

Thomas Bohn (Gießen): Closed Cities” versus “Open Society”. De-Stalinisation and Urbanisation

Galina Ivanova (Moscow): Десталинизация и социальная программа Хрущева

Melanie Ilic (Birmingham): Khrushchev and the Revival of the Woman Question

Juliane Fürst (Bristol): Destalinised Youth? Changes and Continuities of Policy, Concept and Experience

Commentary: Dietmar Neutatz (Freiburg)

14.00-17.30 Panel 2: Communication

Chair: Melanie Ilic (Birmingham)

Stephan Merl (Bielefeld): Did Basic Principles of Political Communication change after Stalin’s Death?

Jurij Aksyutin (Moscow): Эволюция общественных настроений в СССР в 50-е – 70-е годы по материалам массовых опросов очевидцев и свидетелей событий тех лет

Simon Huxtable (London): Rethinking ‘The Regime’: Komsomol’skaia pravda and Political Power, 1956-68

Commentary: Sergei Zhuravlev (Moscow)

Saturday, 11th February 2012

9.00-12.30 Panel 3: Culture and memory

Chair: Stephan Merl (Bielefeld)

Polly Jones (London): Coming to terms with the past, or mastering the past? De-Stalinisation in comparative perspective

Maria Zezina (Moscow): Soviet writers and De-Stalinization in the period of “thaw” and after

Alexandra Oberländer (Bremen): Those who don’t work shall not eat: A Cultural History of (non-)work in the USSR

Michel Abesser (Freiburg): A cultural playground for the Soviet Middle Class? – Soviet Jazz in the 1950s and 60s

Commentary: Beate Fieseler (Düsseldorf)

14.00-17.30 Panel 4: Space

Chair: Jurij Aksyutin (Moscow)

Karsten Brüggemann (Tallinn): National in form, socialist in content? Song Festivals in the Estonian Soviet Republic

Rayk Einax (Gießen): Much ado about De-stalinisation. The view from the Belarussian periphery

Natalija Kibita (Glasgow): De-Stalinising economic administration: Ukrainian ideas on an alternative vision of centre-republic economic relations (1953-1965)

Commentary: Julia Obertreis (Freiburg)

19.00 Final session & discussion

Chair: Michel Abesser (Freiburg)/Rayk Einax (Gießen)
Steven Bittner (Sonoma): Was it really the Beginning of the End? De-Stalinisation and the Shadow of the Soviet Collapse

Sunday, 12th February 2012
Departure

Kontakt

Rayk Einax

JLU Gießen, Historisches Institut, Abt. Osteuropäische Geschichte
Otto-Behagel-Str. 10 D; 35394 Gießen
0641 99 28261
0641 99 28259

Rayk.Einax@geschichte.uni-giessen.de


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