Soviet and Communist studies
Soviet and Communist studies is the field of historical studies of the Soviet Union and other Communist states, as well as of communist parties, such as the Communist Party USA, that existed or still exist in some form in many countries, inside or outside the former Soviet Bloc. It is a field rife with conflict and controversy.
While this area is now seldom offered as a field of study in itself, in which one might become a specialist, there are related fields emerging, as may be judged by the titles of academic journals, some of which have changed to reflect the passage of time since 1989 and the effect of the end of Soviet rule. These include: Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Europe-Asia Studies, Post-Soviet Affairs, Communist Studies and Transition Politics, Communisme, and Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization. The historiography of strictly Communist studies is also changing, with some different models of its aims, as well as the major shift caused by access to archives.
According to John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, writing in their book, In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage, the historiography of Soviet and Communist studies is characterized by a split between "traditionalists" and "revisionists". Traditionalists characterize themselves as objective reporters of an alleged "totalitarian" nature of Communism and Communist states; they are criticized by their opponents as being anti-communist, even fascist, in their eagerness on continuing to focus on the issues of the Cold War. Alternative characterizations for traditionalists include: "orthodox", "Draperite" (after Theodore Draper), "conservative", "right-wing" or "anti-Communist". Norman Markowitz, a prominent revisionist, referred to them as '"triumphalist", "romantics", "right-wing romantics", and "reactionaries" who belong to the "HUAC school of CPUSA scholarship"'.
Revisionists, characterized by Haynes and Klehr as historical revisionists, are more numerous and, furthermore, dominate academic institutions and learned journals.[citation needed] A suggested alternative formulation is "new historians of American communism", but that has not caught on. They would describe themselves as unbiased and scholarly and contrast their work to the work of anti-Communist traditionalists whom they would term biased and unscholarly.
Contents
1 Journals in the field
1.1 Account required for online access
1.2 Mostly free online access
1.3 Printed journals
1.4 Other serial publications
2 Academic programs
3 See also
4 References
Journals in the field
Account required for online access
The following journals can only be accessed through participating institutions such as libraries or institutions of higher learning which have a subscription:
Soviet Studies, Vols. 1 - 44, 1949-1992
Europe-Asia Studies (as the successor of Soviet Studies) Jstor
Journal of Contemporary History, Vols. 1-16, 1991-2007
The Russian Review Vols. 1-66, 1941-2007
Journal of Cold War Studies Vols.1-9, 1998-2007
Problems of Post-Communism Vols. 1-54, 1953-2007
- Kritika
- Communist and Post-Communist Studies
Studies in Soviet Thought (1961-1992) (succeeded by Studies in East European Thought)- The Slavonic and East European Review
Problems of Communism (1954-1992), renamed Problems of Post-Communism
Mostly free online access
The following journals are by subscription but most of the back-issue articles can be accessed free of charge online:
Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization, Vols. 1 - 14, 1992-2006
Printed journals
Jahrbuch für Historische Kommunismusforschung (Yearbook for Historical Communist Studies), ISSN 0944-629X (in German) (1993-)
Slavic Review, ISSN 0037-6779
Other serial publications
Yearbook on International Communist Affairs, Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University (1966-1991)[1][2][3]
World Strength of the Communist Party Organizations, an annual report published by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the U.S. Department of State beginning in 1948.[4][5]
Academic programs
Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies offered by the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, University of California, Berkeley
- Publications
See also
- Kremlinology
- Russian studies
- Historiography of the Cold War
References
^ Gyorgy, A. (1978). "1975 Yearbook on International Communist Affairs. Edited by Staar Richard F.. (Stanford, Calif.: Hoover Institution Press, 1975. Pp. 678. $25.00.)". American Political Science Review. 72 (2): 819–819. doi:10.2307/1954276. Retrieved May 13, 2017..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Szawlowski, R. (October 1979). "Reviewed Work: Yearbook on International Communist Affairs 1978 by Richard F. Starr". Soviet Studies. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 31 (4): 617–619. JSTOR 150933.
^ Goshko, John M. (December 3, 1991). "As Soviet Union dissolves, "kremlinologists" shift gears". Washington Post. USA. Archived from the original on January 31, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
^ Morris, Bernard S. (December 1970). "Yearbook on International Communist Affairs, 1968. by Richard V. Allen". Slavic Review. Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies; Cambridge University Press. 29 (4): 704–705. JSTOR 2493285.
^ McLane, Charles B. (Autumn 1972). "1970 Yearbook on International Communist Affairs and 1971 Yearbook on International Communist Affairs by RICHARD F. STAAR". Canadian Slavonic Papers / Revue Canadienne des Slavistes. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 14 (3): 548–551. JSTOR 40866482.
