Between 1985 and 1991, the Soviet Union was shaken to its core by a series of remarkable social and political developments. Throughout the period, the eminent Sovietologist Vladimir Shlapentokh monitored the revolution and recorded his impressions in a series of essays which were published in major North American newspapers and periodicals. Here Shlapentokh collects these snapshots of current events that detail the progression of perestroika and glasnost. The essays and accompanying narrative form a kind of political diary, reflecting not only the facts of history, but the author's...

This book explores interpersonal situations in which weak or vulnerable people find themselves and the ways in which others help create, sustain, and eradicate such social dynamics. Vladimir Shlapentokh and Eric Beasley demonstrate that people can gain power over each other and then abuse this power because of unequal resource conditions. The authors define resources as the means necessary for satisfaction or achievement of needs or goals, such as wealth, physical strength, intellectual capacity and information, sexual attractiveness, and status.

This volume is different from...

In this unprecedented work on the status and role of intellectuals in Soviet political life, a former Soviet sociologist maps out the delicate, often paradoxical, ties between the political regime and the creative thinkers who play a major part in the movement toward modernization. Beginning with Stalin, Vladimir Shlapentokh explores the mutual need and antagonism that have existed between political leaders and intellectuals. What emerges is a fascinating portrayal of the Soviet intellectual network since the 1950s, which touches on such topics as the role of literature and film in...