Witness transition

aje on December 5, 2022

This page is a collection of resources that have nurtured and fuelled my interest in post-Soviet transition.
Written ethnography
Here are some recommended books that uncover the impact of transition on the daily life of ordinary people:

  • The unmaking of Soviet life: Everyday economies after socialism, by Caroline Humphrey, 2002
  • Domesticating revolution: From socialist reform to ambivalent transition in a Bulgarian Village, by Gerald Creed, 2007
  • Market dreams: Gender, class and capitalism in the Czech Republic, by Elaine Weiner, 2007
  • Crisis and the everyday in post-socialist Moscow, by Olga Shevchenko, 2008
  • Getting by in postsocialist Romania: Labor, the body, and working-class culture, by David Kideckel, 2008
  • Needed by nobody: Homelessness and mumanness in post-socialist Russia, by Tova Hojdestrand, 2009
  • Secondhand time: The last of the Soviets, by Svetlana Alexievich, 2013
Documentaries
Traumazone, by Adam Curtis – this collection of BBC archival footage provides a fascinating and absorbing insight into how life changed for ordinary citizens of the Soviet Union, from 1985 through 1999.

For more see here, and I also recommend Chris Snowdon’s review.

Excerpt from a 1985 documentary:

Life in Moscow, 1986:

Collective (2020) – a quite stunning look at how public officials attempt to restore trust, and how investigative journalists pursue justice, for the victims of the 2015 Romanian nightclub fire.

https://youtu.be/KLgGoT7v3ro
Short video

How did Ceaușescu’s rule of Romania come to an end? – a 20 minute account of the Timisoara uprising that led to the toppling of the Ceausescu regime (to see his speech on December 21st and the exact moment where he realised that it was over, see here; to see him being tried, and shot, see here).

Bald and Bankrupt – a British vlogger who travels around the former Soviet Union providing a glimpse at the legacy of communism. I particularly liked this video, filmed one day before the Russian invasion of Ukraine:

Flying over Berlin in 1991 – aerial shots taken by a helicopter

Berlin 1990 the end of the war (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) – home movies shot by Derek Williams, who was in Berlin to see the Pink Floyd concert.

The BBC has an excellent web resource on Tunnel 29. The excellent podcast Criminal covers it in this episode:

Me visiting the Berlin wall in 2023:

 
Movies
Good Bye Lenin! (2003) – Set in East Berlin, a woman falls into a coma and misses the fall of the Berlin Wall. When she awakens her children don’t want to shock her, and attempt to screen the economic changes occurring outside the bedroom window. This is an entertaining but poignant demonstration of the transition process and alternative economic systems.

The Lives of Others (2006) – An enthralling depiction of the East German Stasi, with the main character questioning the implementation of his ideals whilst spying on a playwright. There’s no neat ideological conclusion, but a challenging portrayal of espionage.

For more movies, see my Shin Film List.
Podcasts