Dynamising Things: Essays on Objects, Relations, and People - (Historical Materialism Book) by Serguei Alex Oushakine (Hardcover)

About the Book

This collection of essays explores a convoluted world of Soviet materiality. Inspired by multiple debates about the nature of the socialist thing, the book shows how daily objects emerged as the key tools for shaping a new socialist people and a new Soviet culture.

Book Synopsis

Using diverse historical and ethnographic materials, this collection explores the various relationships between people and things that were actively fostered during the seven decades of Soviet socialism. It demonstrates how things, not always fully socialist, energized social relations, shaped communities, cultivated new identities, objectified emerging attitudes, and provoked affective attachments. In particular, this collection pays close attention to what Viktor Shklovsky, the founder of Russian Formalism, called "long-term things"--palpable, non-fictitious objects that refuse to disappear, insisting instead on their active presence and enduring relevance.

About the Author

Serguei Oushakine is Professor of Anthropology and Slavic Languages and Literatures at Princeton University. His research deals with Soviet and post-Soviet cultures in Eurasia. His current projects include a study of early Soviet pedagogy of images, and the history of Russian Formalism.