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CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF POST-SOCIALISM
Ethnographic Accounts and Anthropological Theories in and of East-Central Europe
Spring 2008
Masaryk University in Brno
This course gives an overview of the major themes and paradigms in the cultural anthropological research
of late-state-socialist and post-socialist societies. Thus, it explores both the palette of various fields that
have been seen as specific to the East-Central European region, as well as the important shifts of attention
from one topic to another over the course of the past three decades. Although there will be references to
state-socialist experiences on other continents, the main cultural-historical focus will remain on European
satellite states of the former Soviet Union.
The format of the course is a combination of brief lectures and a thorough discussion of assigned
readings. The students are encouraged to conduct a brief ethnographic research on cultural practices and
write down the observations in a field diary, read both classic and innovative ethnographies as well as
theoretical syntheses of the relevant literature, and be prepared to give concise yet in-depth presentations
on them. Few of the texts are missing as they were unavailable during the making of this reader (these are
marked with a bold asterisk and should be delivered or referred in class. Also, some of the texts are
marked in bold letters ­ these are required reading for all students. The other are recommended for
selection for the class presentation.
March 27 14.30­15.50 What Is East-Central Europe? Political and Cultural Geographies
March 27 16.05­17.25 What Was Socialism? Historical and Economic Conceptualizations
March 27 17.40­19.00 East-Central Europe as an Area of Anthropological Studies
April 10 14.30­15.50 Political Theories of State Socialism and Their Practical Critique
April 10 16.05­17.25 Economic Reforms, Consumer Socialism, Second Economy
April 10 17.40­19.00 Theories and Histories of the Transition
April 24 14.30­15.50 Wild East: Global Capitalism in East-Central Europe
April 24 16.05­17.25 Privatization and Consumerism: Discourses on Normality
April 24 17.40­19.00 Trajectories of Social Change after 1989
May 15 14.30­15.50 Emergence of Nationalism in the Post-Socialist Context
May 15 16.05­17.25 Memory and Forgetting: Rethinking the Past and the Authentic
May 15 17.40­19.00 Politics of Identity: Discourses Inclusion and Exclusion
June TBA Final papers due
The course grades will be based on written work and class participation. The in-class presentation of
selected readings and active participation in the classroom discussions will account for 30 percent,
completion of the brief research assignment on ethnographic observations for 30 percent, and submitting
the final take-home essay for 40 percent of the grade. Specific readings for the successive topics of the
course will be distributed separately in a reader that is available either in print or through the IS
(Information System).
The course meets four times this spring on March 27, April 10, April 24, and May 15 for three 80-minute
sessions each time.
Miklós Vörös
miklos.voros@gmail.com or
38322@mail.muni.cz