BGHS

Representations and Practices of Revolutionary Internationalism in Early Soviet Society, 1917-1927

World revolution, international solidarity, the Communist International, proletarian internationalism - these notions and topics were a crucial part of Soviet public discourse and Bolshevik self-conception in the first years after the October revolution. Despite the seemingly obscurity and abstractness, the notion of the internationality of class struggle meant a lot for the Communist movement, be it leaders or rank and file, the idea of world revolution being a promise of salvation. How did the Communist party propagate revolutionary internationalism amongst its ranks and beyond? What function did world-revolutionary motifs play in Soviet public discourse and Bolshevik assurance of power? And, more importantly, what practices were available for Soviet citizens of various social strata to participate in what was perceived as a world-wide communist struggle? These questions are to be tackled by the PhD project, adhering to a historical perspective that puts emphasis on human agency.

PhD supervision: Prof. Dr. Thomas Welskopp (Bielefeld University), Prof. Dr. Klaus Gestwa (University of Tübingen).

For a more detailed project expose, read on here [pdf].

Profile at Academia.edu

Curriculum Vitae

Publications

Articles

• "German October is Approaching". Internationalism, Activists, and the Soviet State in 1923. In: Revolutionary Russia (2011), no. 2. [in print]
• "Mirovaia revoliutsiia - prelestnaia veshch'". Internatsionalizm bol'shevistskikh aktivistov pervykh let sovetskoi vlasti. In: Bulletin des Deutschen Historischen Instituts Moskau (2011) [forthcoming].
• Think Tank, Publisher, Symbol. The Comintern in the Early Soviet Media Landscape. In: The International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online XVI (2011), no. 24, pp. 110-119.
• Mirovaia revoliutsiia kak stimul: internatsionalizm bol'shevistskikh aktivistov pervykh let Sovetskoi vlasti. In: Konstruiruia "sovetskoe"? Politicheskoe soznanie, povsednevnye praktiki, novye identichnosti. Materialy nauchnoi konferentsii studentov i aspirantov, 14-15 aprelia 2011 goda, Sankt-Peterburg, Izdatel'stvo Evropeiskogo universiteta v Sankt-Peterburge, 2011, pp. 5-13.
• Representations and Practices of Revolutionary Internationalism in Early Soviet Society, 1917-1927. PhD Project. In: The International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online XVI (2010), No. 23, pp. 17-24.
• Ein Mann, ein Blatt. Franz Pfemfert und „Die Aktion“ 1911-1932. In: versa. Zeitschrift für Politik und Kunst (2007), No. 7, pp. 48-62.

Participation in Editorial Projects

• Bernhard H.Bayerlein: "Der Verräter, Stalin, bist Du!". Vom Ende der linken Solidarität. Komintern und kommunistische Parteien im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1941. Unter Mitarbeit von Natal'ja S. Lebedeva, Michail Narinskij und Gleb Albert, Berlin, Aufbau Verlag, 2008. [Russian version: Moskva, ROSSPEN, 2011]
• versa. Zeitschrift für Politik und Kunst (ISSN: 1614-8711), Köln, 2007-2008
• The International Newsletter of Communist Studies (ISSN: 1862-698X) / The International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online (ISSN: Y503-1060), Berlin-Mannheim-Potsdam, 2005ff.

Book Reviews

• Vladimir P. Sapon: Ternovyi venets svobody. Libertarizm v ideologii i revoliutsionnoi praktike rossiiskikh levykh radikalov. In: Ab Imperio (2010), No. 3, pp. 385-390.
• Irina P. Sirotinskaia (ed.): K stoletiiu so dnia rozhdeniia Varlama Shalamova. Materialy mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii. In: International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online XV (2009), No. 22, pp. 241-242.
• A. Kaspravicjus e.a. (eds.): SSSR i Litva v gody Vtoroi mirovoi voiny. Sbornik dokumentov. I: SSSR i Litovskaia Respublika. Mart 1939 - avgust 1940 gg. In: Ab Imperio (2008), No. 3, pp. 443-449.
• Vadim V. Dam'e, Irina S. Savina, Marianna B. Korchagina (eds.): Vlast' i obshchestvo v predstavlenii levykh obshchestvenno-politicheskikh dvizhenii. In: International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online XIV (2008), No. 21, pp. 105-107.
• I.A. Kondakova (ed.): Otkrytyi arkhiv-2. Spravochnik sbornikov dokumentov, vyshedshikh v svet v otechestvennykh izdatel'stvakh v 1917-2000 gg. In: International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online XIII (2007), No. 20, pp. 115-116.
• Kevin Murphy: Revolution and Counterrevolution. Class Struggle in a Moscow Metal Factory, In: International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online XIII (2007), No. 20, pp. 123-126.

Research and Literature Reports

• Deutschland entdeckt Varlam Šalamov. Zu einem Editionsprojekt und einer Aufsatzsammlung. In: International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online XIV (2008), No. 21, pp. 135-136.
• The International Article Bibliography on Communist Studies and Related Topics. In: International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online, 2008ff. (with Bernhard H. Bayerlein).
• The International Bibliography of Communist Studies. In: International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online, 2005ff. (with Bernhard H. Bayerlein).
• Gottesnarren in der Moskauer Rus'. Forschungsbericht, Abteilung für Osteuropäische Geschichte des Seminars für Geschichte der Universität zu Köln, 2005.

Conference Reports, Miscellanea

• Research Approaches to Former Soviet States: A Practical Introduction. 12.11.2010-13.11.2010, Oxford, in: H-Soz-u-Kult, 03.03.2011, http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/tagungsberichte/id=3559.
• Gab es eine Alternative? Das ideelle Erbe der sozialistischen Dissidenten in der UdSSR. Forschungs- und Interpretationsprobleme. 13.12.2008-14.12.2008, Moskau. In: H-Soz-u-Kult, 29.01.2009
• Jimmy, Jacob oder Dmitrij? Identitäten eines „Kominternwaisen“. In: International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online XII (2006), No. 19, pp. 48-52. (with Dmitrij Moiseenko and Bernhard H. Bayerlein).
• Der einzige Franzose, der den blutigen Säuberungen der Komintern zum Opfer fiel? Zur Biographie von Maurice Genrichovic Albert. In: International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online X (2004), No.17, pp. 29-31. (with Bernhard H. Bayerlein).

Conference Papers

• "Mirovaia revoliutsiia kak stimul: internatsionalizm bol'shevistskikh aktivistov pervykh let Sovetskoi vlasti ["World Revolution as Stimulus. Bolshevik Activists' Internationalism in the First Years of Soviet Power"], paper presented at the 5th PhD Students' Conference "Constructing the «Soviet»? Political Consciousness, Everyday Practices, New Identities", European University at St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, 14-15 April 2011.
• Shattered Dreams: Soviet Party Activists and the 'German October', 1923", paper presented at the 2nd International PhD Conference "German and Russian Identities Across Time and Borders", University of Notre Dame, South Bend IN, USA, 8-11 April 2011.
• "Vom 'Weltsowjet' zum 'Vaterland aller Werktätigen'. Antizipierte Weltgesellschaft und globales Denken im frühen Sowjetrussland", paper presented at the Third Annual Seminar of the BGHS, Bielefeld University, Germany, 7-9 February 2011.
• "Soviet Repercussions of the „German October“, 1923. Internationalism, Activists, and the State", paper presented at the XXXVII Conference of the Study Group on the Russian Revolution, Glasgow University, UK, 6-8 January 2011.
• "Enacting World Revolution at Home. Discourses and Practices of Revolutionary Internationalism in Early Soviet Society", paper presented at "Dimensions of Socialism", IISG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 18-19 November 2010.
• "Representations and Practices of Revolutionary Internationalism in Early Soviet Society, 1917-1927", paper presented at the International PhD Conference "German and Russian Identities Across Time and Borders", Bielefeld University, Germany, 24-26 April 2010.