Monterey Conversations: Soviet History Revisited | Schlögel | Slezkine | Kimmage

In this Monterey Conversation, two distinguished scholars of Soviet history, Karl Schlögel (Frankfurt an der Oder emeritus) and Yuri Slezkine (UC Berkeley), reviewed the long sweep of Soviet history, from 1917 to 1991. They addressed a multiplicity of questions. What are the best ways to frame Soviet history? Should it be written as the history of ideology, of high politics, of ideas, of foreign policy, of everyday life? And how linear is Soviet history? Was the end apparent in the beginning? Or are there ways in which Soviet history should be seen as non-linear or cyclical? And what archives are available for the conceptualization of Soviet history and its stories? This discussion was moderated by Michael Kimmage (Catholic University).