| CBEES/BEEGS | May 25, 2009 | F819 | NB time: 1 till 4 pm (with a break) |
| Södertörns högskola, Huddinge/Flemingsberg Alfred Nobels allé 9 Floor 8 |
DISCIPLINES, IDEOLOGIES, IDENTITIES: METAMORPHOSES OF THE HUMANITIES IN POST-SOVIET RUSSIA
Professor JUTTA SCHERRER
École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)
Centre d'Études des mondes Russe, Caucasien et Centre-européen (CEREC)
Culture and Civilization as New/Old Categories
in Post-Communist Russia One of the educational standards set by the Russian Federations' Ministry of Education for the discipline of culturology (kul'turologiia) stipulates the task of teaching „Russia's place and role in world history and culture (civilisation) and in world society". After the break-up of the Soviet Union and the ensuing paradigm shift, the new discipline, first conceived as an alternative to the formerly obligatory Marxism-Leninism, was to be come a new source of meaning. Ideals and norms that had no place in Soviet ideology and therefore in the social sciences and humanities or were considered discredited, were now placed at the service of a post-Soviet, post-communist identity. For this purpose, Russia's historical and cultural traditions were subjected to new interpretations, according to a method dubbed "civilisational approach to history". One of the most important new paradigms is "Orthodox ethics" linked to the idea of an "orthodox space" of Russian civilization or culture.
Discussion and comments:
- Dr Gudrun Persson, Russian History, Stockholm University. Dr Persson received her PhD from the London School of Economics and Social Sciences. She is the author of Why did the Soviet Union Fall? (2006) and "Searching for a Constitution - The Russian Example" (in Författningskulturer i jämförelse, ed. Anders Mellbourn, 2009). She is currently working on a book on the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet Russia's search for a national memory.
- Prof Lars Kleberg, Russian, Södertörns högskola,
- Prof Irina Sandomirskaja, Cultural Studies, Södertörns högskola.
Further information and reading material for the symposium can be obtained from This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (Room F904)
