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From: Announcement list for BASEES members [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brendan Francis McGeever Sent: Monday, September 25, 2017 11:11 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [BASEES-MEMBERS] World Revolution and Early Soviet Society, 1917-1927 Dear BASEES Members, All are welcome to the next session of Social Histories of the Russian Revolution, a monthly series of talks marking the centenary of Russia's revolutions of 1917. Gleb Albert (University of Zurich) 'World Revolution and Early Soviet Society, 1917-1927' Thursday September 28 18.30 Room 417, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street Building (enter via Torrington Square) WC1E 7HX <https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/early-soviet-society-and-world-revolution-19 17-27-tickets-35799700869> Book tickets here When the Bolsheviks came to power in 1917, they did so on the premise that their new state would not stay isolated. They were counting on the masses in Europe (and, in the long run, all over the world) to overthrow their governments, end the bloodshed of World War I, and team up with Soviet Russia to form a global socialist commonwealth. When, one year later, the monarchy was overthrown in Germany and Austro-Hungary, and a whirlwind of revolutionary upheaval swept over most of Europe, the Bolsheviks, for a moment, thought that their dreams had become a reality. However, they had to realise quite soon afterwards that even those revolutions that were not crushed did not result in an outcome in their favour. By the mid-1920s, this disappointment set the ground for Stalin's "socialism in one country". But was it all just the concern of the Soviet political elites? Did rank and file activists and the general population, absorbed by day-to-day violence and survival, ignore the revolutionary events abroad? Or did at least some of them share the Bolshevik vision of world revolution? Is there an early Soviet social history of world revolution - and if there is, how can it be told? This talk, based on extensive archival research in Russia, will explore the resonance of world revolution in early Soviet society - a story of appropriation, misunderstandings, enthusiasm, and disappointment. It will highlight why revolutionary internationalism mattered for certain strata of the Soviet population, how popular projections coincided with real revolutionary events abroad, how militant solidarity was slowly supplanted by charity, and how world-revolutionary charisma came into conflict with the social order of the New Economic Policy (NEP) - even before Stalin abolished NEP and internationalism altogether. The talk will lay bare a forgotten layer of history without which our picture of early Soviet culture and society remains incomplete. All welcome. Free Entry. Book tickets here <https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/early-soviet-society-and-world-revolution-19 17-27-tickets-35799700869> . <https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/early-soviet-society-and-world-revolution-19 17-27-tickets-35799700869> This talk is part of the year-long Social Histories of the Russian Revolution <https://owa.bbk.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=KP8r0QI4Wz7Ur_Tqh4WtVq4WIxaHLOB8zenx t4EYLy5RB3Pj_mbUCA..&URL=https%3a%2f%2fsocialhistories1917.wordpress.com%2f> series. Please also see our Facebook page <https://owa.bbk.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=LGqM_2i9U83ZJwmAa7RC364pTMyW5Pw2j8Pg n_lNZoBRB3Pj_mbUCA..&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.facebook.com%2fsocialhistories191 7%2f> for more information. The Organisers Social Histories of the Russian Revolution Dr. Brendan McGeever Lecturer in the Sociology of Racialization and Antisemitism Department of Psychosocial Studies School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy Birkbeck, University of London 26 Russell Square Room G23 London WC1B 5DQ t: 020 7631 6723 e: [log in to unmask] t: @b_mcgeever <https://twitter.com/b_mcgeever> w: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/psychosocial/our-staff/full-time-academic-staff/brendan -mcgeever