Alissa Klots | University of Pittsburgh (original) (raw)
CFP by Alissa Klots
Call for applications for the Ninth International Social Science Summer School in Ukraine, Zapor... more Call for applications for the Ninth International Social Science Summer School in Ukraine, Zaporizhzhya, 25-30 June 2018.
A joint project of the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa (Canada), the Institut des Sciences Sociales du Politique (France), The Center for Slavic History at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne (France), the LabEx “Writing a new History of Europe” (France), The Center Marc Bloch (Germany), The Zaporizhzhya National University (Ukraine).
The Summer school is supported by the Wolodymyr George Danyliw Foundation (Canada), the Embassy of France in Ukraine, the LabEx EHNE (France) and the Center Marc Bloch (Germany) .
Papers by Alissa Klots
In his chapter entitled 'Thermidor in the Family' Trotsky explains: 'So long as society is incapa... more In his chapter entitled 'Thermidor in the Family' Trotsky explains: 'So long as society is incapable of taking upon itself the material concern for the family, the mother can successfully fulfil a social function only on condition that she has in her service a white slave: nurse, servant, cook, etc.' 1 Here Trotsky follows Marx, who argues that domestic service is a form of ancient domestic slavery, unproductive employment of segments of the working class intrinsic to capitalism. 2 Trotsky was not concerned, however, with the lives of female servants. He instead used them as a rhetorical device to contrast the privileged position of 'women of the upper strata, representatives of bureaucratic, technical, pedagogical and, in general, intellectual work', with the degraded position of the 'working woman', 'who is compelled to run to the shops, prepare dinner herself, and carry her children on foot from the kindergarten-if, indeed, a kindergarten is available'. 3 To the extent that the domestic servant mattered to Trotsky, she mattered only as a symbol of Stalin's failure to fulfil the revolutionary promise of women's liberation; a symbol of the revolution betrayed. For other Soviet commentators, domestic workers also served as a potent symbol. 'Every kitchen maid can govern the state' was a slogan constantly reproduced in articles, posters, works of fiction and film. 4 A famous 1925 poster 'Every Kitchen Maid Should Learn to Rule the State' depicts a working-class woman wearing a red kerchief pointing to a government building (Fig. 7.1).
I owe this Ph.D. dissertation to the help and support of many individuals, communities, and insti... more I owe this Ph.D. dissertation to the help and support of many individuals, communities, and institutions. This projected started as a kandidatskaia dissertation at the Department of History and Political Science at Perm State University (Russia)-in many ways a unique department for post-Soviet Russia. Under the supervision of Galina Aleskandrovna Yankovskaya I first got interested in the question of paid domestic labor in the Soviet Union. Not only did she share her expertise in Soviet history with me, she carefully guided me through all the endless administrative hoops the Russian graduate system has in store for anyone who wants a degree. Once I got close to defending my kandidatskaia dissertation, I came to realize that there was a lot more I could do with the topic if only I could get more training. I was very lucky to meet Maria Cristina Galmarini-Kabala who helped me navigate the dark waters of the US graduate school admission process and who has been a friend and a role model (starshyi tovarishch) ever since. I was extremely fortunate to be accepted into the history program at Rutgers University. The diversity of courses offered by leading historians in a variety of fields forced me to get out of my Russianist shell, while the sense of academic community at the Department of History helped me develop confidence in my work. I enjoyed the camaraderie of fellow graduate students. I am particularly grateful to Courtney Doucette and Hilary Buxton for taking the time to read my chapter drafts and give me their invaluable feedback. Courtney has also been my cherished archive and conference v companion, from Philadelphia to Cologne. Dina Fainberg was always ready to give advice or just have a friendly chat. A special thank you (and a hug) goes to Matthew Mangold for still wanting to be my friend after spending hours? days? inserting definite articles into the numerous texts I have produced throughout my graduate student life. While Rutgers was an excellent place to broaden my horizons, the Slavist community at the University of Pennsylvania was a great place to reconnect with my Russianist roots. Graduate seminars with Benjamin Nathans and Peter Holquist shaped me as a historian of Russia. My dear kruzhkovtsy were the best company imaginable for sharing my thoughts about the idiosyncrasies of Soviet history and Russian life. Iullia Skubytska and Jacob Feygin were particularly generous with their friendship and hospitality. When I left the east coast to start my archival research I was welcomed by yet another community-those of scholars and good people of Moscow. Anna Ivanova, Oleg Zhuravlev, Timur Mukhamatulin, and Evgenia Misenzhnikova have generously shared their homes and ideas with me. A lot of great people-too numerous to name herehelped me collect material for my dissertation, commented on my presentations at conferences and generally expressed interest in my work.
Towards a Global History of Domestic and Caregiving Workers is an ambitious book that sets out to... more Towards a Global History of Domestic and Caregiving Workers is an ambitious book that sets out to write domestic and caregiving work into the global history of labor. The authors define the subject of their research as “[w]ork in the households of others[which] includes all tasks concerning household work such as cooking, washing,cleaning as well as care work such as taking care of children, elderly and sick persons”(p. 2, emphases in the original) thus encompassing a wide spectrum of arrangements,from domestic slavery to the wage labor of unionized workers.
Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History, 2018
I tell you, it is difficult to leave the whirlwind of life when it has become the norm of life. T... more I tell you, it is difficult to leave the whirlwind of life when it has become the norm of life. That is why, when I was retiring, I wanted to find an activity that would make my heart ache and not let it rest. I am happy that I have found such an activity. The work at the city women’s soviet has given me the opportunity to continue my public and political activities, use the knowledge and skills I have accumulated over the years, stay in touch with the school and teachers and work with children. I want to pass on my experience, love for public work, and the baton of labor to our fine youth. I assure our oblast and city party committees that as long as my health does not fail me, I will work with a pioneer spark and Komsomol fervor, adding my little brick to the majestic building of communism.1
Antropologicheskij forum
The article focuses on the changes that occurred in archiving practices after Stalin. Based on th... more The article focuses on the changes that occurred in archiving practices after Stalin. Based on the analysis of publications in professional journals for archivists and in popular press — as well as the personal archival collection of Perm activist and local historian Valentina Sokolova — we argue that, as a result of the democratic and humanistic turn in Soviet society after Stalin’s death, late socialism saw a shift in the understanding of who is worthy of having their documents preserved in an archive. Whereas previously only “remarkable” individuals had the right for a private archival collection, now some members of the archivist community began a campaign to collect documents of “ordinary” citizens. The archivists found allies not only among specialists but also among elderly members of the Soviet intelligentsia — participants in the building of socialism, who had no prior connection to historical studies. This shift that we call the “quiet archival revolution” became an integr...
The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, 2021
This article analyzes the turn to the emotional in advice literature on aging and its reception i... more This article analyzes the turn to the emotional in advice literature on aging and its reception in the 1950s–1960s. “Positive emotions” were proclaimed a decisive factor in remaining healthy while old and being a productive member of the society. Yet, a close reading of the multiple narratives of aging written by a retired professional propagandist Tatiana Ivanova (1898–1968) reveals a tension between the prescribed “positive emotions” and feelings of sadness and uselessness caused by retirement, unfulfilled promises of the Soviet welfare system and particularly health problems that did not quite fit with the approved repertoire of an aging communist. This article seeks to enrich our understanding of late Soviet subjectivity by focusing not on just “speaking” or “thinking” but also “feeling” Soviet.
Call for applications for the Ninth International Social Science Summer School in Ukraine, Zapor... more Call for applications for the Ninth International Social Science Summer School in Ukraine, Zaporizhzhya, 25-30 June 2018.
A joint project of the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa (Canada), the Institut des Sciences Sociales du Politique (France), The Center for Slavic History at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne (France), the LabEx “Writing a new History of Europe” (France), The Center Marc Bloch (Germany), The Zaporizhzhya National University (Ukraine).
The Summer school is supported by the Wolodymyr George Danyliw Foundation (Canada), the Embassy of France in Ukraine, the LabEx EHNE (France) and the Center Marc Bloch (Germany) .
In his chapter entitled 'Thermidor in the Family' Trotsky explains: 'So long as society is incapa... more In his chapter entitled 'Thermidor in the Family' Trotsky explains: 'So long as society is incapable of taking upon itself the material concern for the family, the mother can successfully fulfil a social function only on condition that she has in her service a white slave: nurse, servant, cook, etc.' 1 Here Trotsky follows Marx, who argues that domestic service is a form of ancient domestic slavery, unproductive employment of segments of the working class intrinsic to capitalism. 2 Trotsky was not concerned, however, with the lives of female servants. He instead used them as a rhetorical device to contrast the privileged position of 'women of the upper strata, representatives of bureaucratic, technical, pedagogical and, in general, intellectual work', with the degraded position of the 'working woman', 'who is compelled to run to the shops, prepare dinner herself, and carry her children on foot from the kindergarten-if, indeed, a kindergarten is available'. 3 To the extent that the domestic servant mattered to Trotsky, she mattered only as a symbol of Stalin's failure to fulfil the revolutionary promise of women's liberation; a symbol of the revolution betrayed. For other Soviet commentators, domestic workers also served as a potent symbol. 'Every kitchen maid can govern the state' was a slogan constantly reproduced in articles, posters, works of fiction and film. 4 A famous 1925 poster 'Every Kitchen Maid Should Learn to Rule the State' depicts a working-class woman wearing a red kerchief pointing to a government building (Fig. 7.1).
I owe this Ph.D. dissertation to the help and support of many individuals, communities, and insti... more I owe this Ph.D. dissertation to the help and support of many individuals, communities, and institutions. This projected started as a kandidatskaia dissertation at the Department of History and Political Science at Perm State University (Russia)-in many ways a unique department for post-Soviet Russia. Under the supervision of Galina Aleskandrovna Yankovskaya I first got interested in the question of paid domestic labor in the Soviet Union. Not only did she share her expertise in Soviet history with me, she carefully guided me through all the endless administrative hoops the Russian graduate system has in store for anyone who wants a degree. Once I got close to defending my kandidatskaia dissertation, I came to realize that there was a lot more I could do with the topic if only I could get more training. I was very lucky to meet Maria Cristina Galmarini-Kabala who helped me navigate the dark waters of the US graduate school admission process and who has been a friend and a role model (starshyi tovarishch) ever since. I was extremely fortunate to be accepted into the history program at Rutgers University. The diversity of courses offered by leading historians in a variety of fields forced me to get out of my Russianist shell, while the sense of academic community at the Department of History helped me develop confidence in my work. I enjoyed the camaraderie of fellow graduate students. I am particularly grateful to Courtney Doucette and Hilary Buxton for taking the time to read my chapter drafts and give me their invaluable feedback. Courtney has also been my cherished archive and conference v companion, from Philadelphia to Cologne. Dina Fainberg was always ready to give advice or just have a friendly chat. A special thank you (and a hug) goes to Matthew Mangold for still wanting to be my friend after spending hours? days? inserting definite articles into the numerous texts I have produced throughout my graduate student life. While Rutgers was an excellent place to broaden my horizons, the Slavist community at the University of Pennsylvania was a great place to reconnect with my Russianist roots. Graduate seminars with Benjamin Nathans and Peter Holquist shaped me as a historian of Russia. My dear kruzhkovtsy were the best company imaginable for sharing my thoughts about the idiosyncrasies of Soviet history and Russian life. Iullia Skubytska and Jacob Feygin were particularly generous with their friendship and hospitality. When I left the east coast to start my archival research I was welcomed by yet another community-those of scholars and good people of Moscow. Anna Ivanova, Oleg Zhuravlev, Timur Mukhamatulin, and Evgenia Misenzhnikova have generously shared their homes and ideas with me. A lot of great people-too numerous to name herehelped me collect material for my dissertation, commented on my presentations at conferences and generally expressed interest in my work.
Towards a Global History of Domestic and Caregiving Workers is an ambitious book that sets out to... more Towards a Global History of Domestic and Caregiving Workers is an ambitious book that sets out to write domestic and caregiving work into the global history of labor. The authors define the subject of their research as “[w]ork in the households of others[which] includes all tasks concerning household work such as cooking, washing,cleaning as well as care work such as taking care of children, elderly and sick persons”(p. 2, emphases in the original) thus encompassing a wide spectrum of arrangements,from domestic slavery to the wage labor of unionized workers.
Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History, 2018
I tell you, it is difficult to leave the whirlwind of life when it has become the norm of life. T... more I tell you, it is difficult to leave the whirlwind of life when it has become the norm of life. That is why, when I was retiring, I wanted to find an activity that would make my heart ache and not let it rest. I am happy that I have found such an activity. The work at the city women’s soviet has given me the opportunity to continue my public and political activities, use the knowledge and skills I have accumulated over the years, stay in touch with the school and teachers and work with children. I want to pass on my experience, love for public work, and the baton of labor to our fine youth. I assure our oblast and city party committees that as long as my health does not fail me, I will work with a pioneer spark and Komsomol fervor, adding my little brick to the majestic building of communism.1
Antropologicheskij forum
The article focuses on the changes that occurred in archiving practices after Stalin. Based on th... more The article focuses on the changes that occurred in archiving practices after Stalin. Based on the analysis of publications in professional journals for archivists and in popular press — as well as the personal archival collection of Perm activist and local historian Valentina Sokolova — we argue that, as a result of the democratic and humanistic turn in Soviet society after Stalin’s death, late socialism saw a shift in the understanding of who is worthy of having their documents preserved in an archive. Whereas previously only “remarkable” individuals had the right for a private archival collection, now some members of the archivist community began a campaign to collect documents of “ordinary” citizens. The archivists found allies not only among specialists but also among elderly members of the Soviet intelligentsia — participants in the building of socialism, who had no prior connection to historical studies. This shift that we call the “quiet archival revolution” became an integr...
The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, 2021
This article analyzes the turn to the emotional in advice literature on aging and its reception i... more This article analyzes the turn to the emotional in advice literature on aging and its reception in the 1950s–1960s. “Positive emotions” were proclaimed a decisive factor in remaining healthy while old and being a productive member of the society. Yet, a close reading of the multiple narratives of aging written by a retired professional propagandist Tatiana Ivanova (1898–1968) reveals a tension between the prescribed “positive emotions” and feelings of sadness and uselessness caused by retirement, unfulfilled promises of the Soviet welfare system and particularly health problems that did not quite fit with the approved repertoire of an aging communist. This article seeks to enrich our understanding of late Soviet subjectivity by focusing not on just “speaking” or “thinking” but also “feeling” Soviet.