How was it that after seventy years of communist dictatorship, political life returned to Russia? This book addresses that question by focusing on the individuals, groups and movements that brought this about, their struggles against the Soviet regime, and the ways in which these struggles shaped Russia's political rebirth. As well as offering an original theory of Soviet society, the book is richly informed by the observations and interpretations of participants and close observers, and traces the process through the communist past and the revolution of 1991, to the political system of...

In Russian politics reliable information is scarce, formal relations are of relatively little significance, and things are seldom what they seem. Applying an original theory of political language to narratives taken from interviews with 34 of Russia's leading political figures, Michael Urban explores the ways in which political actors construct themselves with words. By tracing individual narratives back to the discourses available to speakers, he identifies what can and cannot be intelligibly said within the bounds of the country's political culture, and then documents how elites rely on the...

Die Frage nach dem Verhaltnis zwischen den Einzelnen und dem Sozialen ist spatestens seit der Erfindung der Soziologie im 19. Jahrhundert Thema einer Vielzahl theoretischer Klarungs- und Beschreibungsansatze. In immer wieder neuen Varianten wurde versucht, dieses Verhaltnis zu begreifen als die Relation von Teil und Ganzem, von Individuum und Gesellschaft, von psychischen und sozialen oder von subjektiven und objektiven Strukturen - um nur die wichti- ten der zumeist binar strukturierten Begrifflichkeiten anzusprechen, die zur Theoretisierung dieses Zusammenhangs genutzt wurden. Der...

In Russian politics reliable information is scarce, formal relations are of relatively little significance, and things are seldom what they seem. Applying an original theory of political language to narratives taken from interviews with 34 of Russia's leading political figures, Michael Urban explores the ways in which political actors construct themselves with words. By tracing individual narratives back to the discourses available to speakers, he identifies what can and cannot be intelligibly said within the bounds of the country's political culture, and then documents how elites rely on the...

Diners were born in New England (Rhode Island, to be exact), and they have a long and colorful history as local eateries of distinction because of both their menus and their buildings. Though many diners have gone by the wayside in the past half century, there are still plenty around, and each has at least a dish or two for which they re best known and that keep customers coming back year after year. The New England Diner Cookbook celebrates every facet of these diamonds in the rough. Along with diners that have perfected the tried-and-true items like corned beef hash, clam chowder, and...