Although 1989 and 1991 witnessed more spectacular events, 1990 was a year of embryonic change in Russia: Article 6 of the constitution was abolished, and with it the Party's monopoly on political power. This fascinating collection of documentary evidence crystalises the aspirations of the Russian people in the days before Communism finally fell.
It charts - among many other social developments - the appearance of new political parties and independent trade unions, the rapid evolution of mass media, the emergence of a new class of entrepreneurs, a new openness about sex and pornography and a sudden craze for hot-air ballooning, banned under the Communist regime.
1990 is a reminder of the confusion and aspirations of the year before Communism finally collapsed in Russia, and a tantalising glimpse of the paths that may have been taken if Yeltsin's coup had not forced the issue in 1991.
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vii | |
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| Foreword |
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xi | |
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| Introduction |
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1 | (5) |
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6 | (28) |
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"If Lenin Were Alive Today, He Would Know What to Do" |
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14 | (20) |
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34 | (32) |
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My Diary for January 1990 |
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46 | (20) |
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66 | (37) |
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The Year of Utopias Realised: Schools, Teachers and Educational Reformers in 1990 |
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74 | (29) |
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103 | (37) |
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The Irrational in Society: Diagnoses of 1990 |
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110 | (30) |
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140 | (24) |
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The Shock of Irrevocability |
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148 | (16) |
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164 | (35) |
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Ends and Means: Initial Ideas, Institutions That Win |
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176 | (23) |
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199 | (50) |
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The Beginning of the End: Notes of an Eyewitness, Edited by an Historian, Being the Same Person |
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207 | (42) |
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249 | (39) |
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Ideological Construction of a Party Spectrum: The False Start of 1990 |
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258 | (9) |
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Free Flight: The Rebirth of Soviet Aeronautics |
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267 | (11) |
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Trade Unions in 1990: An Involved Observer's View |
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278 | (10) |
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288 | (36) |
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The Funeral of Food, or The Soviet Shopping Basket in 1990 |
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300 | (24) |
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324 | (70) |
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The Russian Orthodox Church in 1990 |
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335 | (59) |
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394 | (39) |
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An Interview with Vladimir Pozner |
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402 | (12) |
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Frozen Experiences, or Local Television Reporting in 1990 |
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414 | (19) |
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433 | (34) |
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The Miners in 1989-90: A Venture into National Politics |
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447 | (20) |
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467 | (30) |
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History as Economics, or A Journey from 1921 to 1906 via 1990 |
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477 | (20) |
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| Afterword: The Challenge of Recent History |
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497 | (6) |
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| Appendix: Illustration Source Notes |
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503 | (4) |
| Index |
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507 | |
IRINA PROKHOROVA is a literary critic and cultural historian, and editor-in-chief of the magazine and publishing house New Literary Observer. She has been the recipient of numerous awards for her work, including the Liberty Prize for her contribution to the development of Russo-American cultural relations, the Andrei Bely Prize for literature, and in December 2012 she was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur. She came to international prominence in 2012 when, with her brother Mikhail Prokhorov standing for the presidency, she took part in a live debate against the filmmaker and Putin supporter Nikita Mikhalkov. IRINA PROKHOROVA is a literary critic and cultural historian, and editor-in-chief of the magazine and publishing house New Literary Observer. She has been the recipient of numerous awards for her work, including the Liberty Prize for her contribution to the development of Russo-American cultural relations, the Andrei Bely Prize for literature, and in December 2012 she was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur. She came to international prominence in 2012 when, with her brother Mikhail Prokhorov standing for the presidency, she took part in a live debate against the filmmaker and Putin supporter Nikita Mikhalkov. ARCH TAIT has translated many leading Russian writers of today. For his translation of Anna Politkovskaya's Putin's Russia he was the winner of the inaugural P.E.N. Literature in Translation Prize in 2010. IRINA PROKHOROVA is a literary critic and cultural historian, and editor-in-chief of the magazine and publishing house New Literary Observer. She has been the recipient of numerous awards for her work, including the Liberty Prize for her contribution to the development of Russo-American cultural relations, the Andrei Bely Prize for literature, and in December 2012 she was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur. She came to international prominence in 2012 when, with her brother Mikhail Prokhorov standing for the presidency, she took part in a live debate against the filmmaker and Putin supporter Nikita Mikhalkov. ARCH TAIT has translated many leading Russian writers of today. For his translation of Anna Politkovskaya's Putin's Russia he was the winner of the inaugural P.E.N. Literature in Translation Prize in 2010.
