Written by Кирилл | 27 February 2021
Posted in News

Organizers:

Center "Human, Nature, Technology" at Tyumen State University

Poletayev Institute for Theoretical and Historical Studies in the Humanities at HSE University

When the famous Russian TV host, Leonid Parfenov, launched the TV show Namedni 1961-1991: Nasha Era (“Recently 1961-1991: Our Era”) in 1997, he deliberately chose 1961 as the starting point. The first manned spaceflight, the passing of the resolution to build communism, the removal of Stalin’s body from the mausoleum, and currency reform marked the first decisive steps towards a new era in the USSR. The sixties were at once the decade of hopes and the decade of disillusionments.

The historiography of the 1960s remains enthralled by enduring clich?s (Khrushchev thaw, physicists and lyricists, etc.), which are often reproduced without any critical analysis.

Notwithstanding that “the 1960s” as a notion has been the subject of some research projects, considerable gaps in knowlege remain. Lack of more nuanced research, however, should be viewed as an opportunity for a fruitful discussion. The theoretical framework of the conference follows Aleksey Yurchak’s idea about the rejection of binary oppositions and towards the study of the Soviet past from perspectives of plurality and diversity. The conference will provide a meeting platform for scholars of different research backgrounds. In working together, we hope to begin to develop a new analytical framework for scholarly conversations about the late Soviet era.

We welcome papers exploring the following themes:

• Anthropology of the 1960s;

• the 1960s in the Soviet cities and the villages;

• Science and (non)scientific utopias of the 1960s;

• Economy of the 1960s;

• The 1960s outside the RSFSR;

• The Socialist Bloc in the global 1960s;

• Visual culture of the Soviet 1960s;

• Memory and myths about the 1960s.

The conference is scheduled for September 25-26, 2021, and will be held at the University of Tyumen.

Please submit your proposals (300 words) and CV to Dr. Alexander Fokin ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) by June 1, 2021. Please indicate the topic of the conference – 60/60. Working languages are Russian and English.