Catriona Kelly

What Was Soviet Studies and What Came Next

In a round-up article written during the manic last years of Boris Yeltsin’s presidency, StephenKotkin looked forward to the demise of the so-called totalitarian interpretation of Soviet history, which sawSoviet politics, society, and culture as monolithic and emphasized the all-consuming role of ideology and the fiat of the Party leader. “The ‘need’ for totalitarianism as a devastating political weapon may well recede with those who engaged with the serious battles of the cold war,”Kotkin speculated. He also anticipated a time when the study of the Soviet Union would itself become part of history: “That thousands of people in one country ðthe United StatesÞ could earn a living by observing another ðRussiaÞ