Repertoires of Citizenship: The Making and Unmaking of the Soviet People

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After the October Revolution in 1917, Bolshevik leaders inherited a vast geographic expanse that was home to nearly 200 distinct ethnicities and languages. How could leaders forge cultural unity among an extraordinarily diverse citizenry? In this presentation, Title VIII Research Scholar Anna Whittington explored Soviet leaders’ dual promotion of diversity and unity through the lens of citizenship and identity. Drawing on multilingual archival and published materials, Whittington demonstrated that the Soviet rhetoric of equality, inclusion, and multiethnic representation coexisted with systemic inequalities that shaped lived experience and ultimately undermined the Soviet Union.