Boris Yuliyevich Kagarlitsky
Encyclopedia
Boris Yulyevich Kagarlitsky ' onMouseout='HidePop("7017")' href="/topics/Moscow">Moscow
) is a Russian
Marxist
theoretician and sociologist
who has been a political dissident in the Soviet Union
and in post-Soviet Russia. He is coordinator of the Transnational Institute
Global Crisis project and Director of the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements (IGSO) in Moscow
.
journal Levy Povorot from 1978 to 1982, and contributions to the samizdat journal Varianty during the same period, led to his two year imprisonment for 'anti-Soviet' activities in 1982. After his release, he published his first book, The Thinking Reed: Intellectuals and the Soviet State From 1917 to the Present, which won the Deutscher Memorial Prize
in 1988.
In 1988, after the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev
and perestroika
, he was permitted to resume his studies at the GITIS, graduating in the same year, and became coordinator of the Moscow People's Front. In 1990, he was elected to the Moscow City Soviet and to the Executive of the Socialist Party of Russia. He co-founded the Party of Labour in October 1992. In October 1993, he was arrested, with two other members of his party, for his opposition to President Boris Yeltsin
during the September—October constitutional crisis, but was released the next day after international protests. Later that year, his job and the Moscow City Soviet were abolished under Yeltsin's new constitution. The events and his experiences during this momentous period are documented in his book, Square Wheels: How Russian Democracy Got Derailed.
Currently Kagarlitsky is the director of Institute of Globalisation Studies and Social Movements (IGSO) http://www.igso.ru and editor in chief of Levaya Politika (Left Politics) quarterly in Moscow.
(ISPRAN). He was awarded his Doctorate degree for his thesis, Collective Actions and Labour Policies in Russia in the 90s, in 1995, and has taught political science at Moscow State University
, the Moscow School for Social and Economic Sciences, and the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
and ZNet, and has contributed articles to International Socialism
, Novaya Gazeta
, The Progressive
, Red Pepper
, the Weekly Worker
and Green Left Weekly
.
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) is a Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
theoretician and sociologist
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
who has been a political dissident in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and in post-Soviet Russia. He is coordinator of the Transnational Institute
Transnational Institute
Transnational Institute is an international think tank for progressive politics. It was established in 1973 in Amsterdam and serves as a network for scholars and activists...
Global Crisis project and Director of the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements (IGSO) in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
Political activities
In the 1970s, he studied theatre criticism at the State Institute of Theatrical Art (GITIS), before being expelled for dissident activities in 1980. His editorship of the samizdatSamizdat
Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...
journal Levy Povorot from 1978 to 1982, and contributions to the samizdat journal Varianty during the same period, led to his two year imprisonment for 'anti-Soviet' activities in 1982. After his release, he published his first book, The Thinking Reed: Intellectuals and the Soviet State From 1917 to the Present, which won the Deutscher Memorial Prize
Deutscher Memorial Prize
The Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize is an annual prize given in honor of historian Isaac Deutscher and his wife Tamara Deutscher for new books published in English "which exemplifies the best and most innovative new writing in or about the Marxist tradition." It has been on-going since...
in 1988.
In 1988, after the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
and perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
, he was permitted to resume his studies at the GITIS, graduating in the same year, and became coordinator of the Moscow People's Front. In 1990, he was elected to the Moscow City Soviet and to the Executive of the Socialist Party of Russia. He co-founded the Party of Labour in October 1992. In October 1993, he was arrested, with two other members of his party, for his opposition to President Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
during the September—October constitutional crisis, but was released the next day after international protests. Later that year, his job and the Moscow City Soviet were abolished under Yeltsin's new constitution. The events and his experiences during this momentous period are documented in his book, Square Wheels: How Russian Democracy Got Derailed.
Currently Kagarlitsky is the director of Institute of Globalisation Studies and Social Movements (IGSO) http://www.igso.ru and editor in chief of Levaya Politika (Left Politics) quarterly in Moscow.
Academic career
From 1994 to 2002, he was a senior research fellow at the Institute for Comparative Political Studies of the Russian Academy of SciencesRussian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
(ISPRAN). He was awarded his Doctorate degree for his thesis, Collective Actions and Labour Policies in Russia in the 90s, in 1995, and has taught political science at Moscow State University
Moscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
, the Moscow School for Social and Economic Sciences, and the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Books
- The Thinking Reed: Intellectuals and the Soviet State from 1917 to the Present (1988)
- The Dialectic of Change (1989)
- Farewell Perestroika: A Soviet Chronicle (1990)
- Disintegration of the Monolith (1993)
- Square Wheels: How Russian Democracy Got Derailed (1994)
- The Mirage of Modernization (1995)
- Restoration in Russia (1995)
- Globalization and Its Discontents: The Rise of Postmodern Socialisms (1996, with Roger Burbach and Orlando Nuñez)
- New Realism, New Barbarism: Socialist Theory in the Era of Globalization (1999)
- The Twilight of Globalization: Property, State and Capitalism (1999)
- The Return of Radicalism: Reshaping the Left Institutions (2000)
- Russia under Yeltsin and Putin: Neo-liberal Autocracy (2002)
- The Politics of Empire: Globalisation in Crisis (2004, co-edited by Alan Freeman)
- The Revolt of the Middle Class (2006)
- Empire of the Periphery: Russia and the World System (2008)
- Back in the USSR (2009)
Political commentary
He writes regularly for The Moscow TimesThe Moscow Times
The Moscow Times is an English-language daily newspaper published in Moscow, Russia since 1992. The circulation in 2008 stood at 35,000 copies and the newspaper is typically given out for free at places English-language "expats" attend, including hotels, cafés and restaurants, as well as by...
and ZNet, and has contributed articles to International Socialism
International Socialism (journal)
International Socialism is a British-based quarterly magazine of socialist theory published by the Socialist Workers Party. It is currently edited by Alex Callinicos, who took over after the death of Chris Harman in November 2009....
, Novaya Gazeta
Novaya Gazeta
Novaya Gazeta is a Russian newspaper well known in the country for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs....
, The Progressive
The Progressive
The Progressive is an American monthly magazine of politics, culture and progressivism with a pronounced liberal perspective on some issues. Known for its pacifism, it has strongly opposed military interventions, such as the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The magazine also devotes much coverage...
, Red Pepper
Red Pepper (magazine)
Red Pepper is an independent ‘red, green and radical’ magazine based in the UK. For most of its history it appeared monthly, but relaunched as a bi-monthly during 2007.- Origins :...
, the Weekly Worker
Weekly Worker
The Weekly Worker is a newspaper published by the Communist Party of Great Britain . The paper is well known on the left for its polemical articles, close attention to Marxist theory and the politics of other Marxist groups...
and Green Left Weekly
Green Left Weekly
Green Left Weekly is an Australian radical left-wing newspaper, written by progressive activists to "present the views excluded by the big business media". It was published by the Democratic Socialist Perspective from its inception in 1990 until January 2010, when the DSP merged into the Socialist...
.
Biographical
- Official website
- Unofficial website
- Boris Kagarlitsky's IGSO profile
- Boris Kagarlitsky's profile on the Transnational InstituteTransnational InstituteTransnational Institute is an international think tank for progressive politics. It was established in 1973 in Amsterdam and serves as a network for scholars and activists...
, with columns, articles, interviews, etc.
Articles
Interviews
- New period for Russia, Weekly WorkerWeekly WorkerThe Weekly Worker is a newspaper published by the Communist Party of Great Britain . The paper is well known on the left for its polemical articles, close attention to Marxist theory and the politics of other Marxist groups...
, March 16, 2006 - Class-consciousness and the naked king, Weekly WorkerWeekly WorkerThe Weekly Worker is a newspaper published by the Communist Party of Great Britain . The paper is well known on the left for its polemical articles, close attention to Marxist theory and the politics of other Marxist groups...
, May 10, 2007 - TV interview on the night of the 2008 Russian presidential election, Russia TodayRussia TodayRussia Today may refer to:* Russia Today, an English language 24-hour television news channel from Russia. It was launched in 2005 and is not related to an online news service of the similar name operated by EIN News...
, March 2, 2008
Papers and essays
- Facing the Crisis, Paper presented at the Global Crisis Seminar, TNITransnational InstituteTransnational Institute is an international think tank for progressive politics. It was established in 1973 in Amsterdam and serves as a network for scholars and activists...
, AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, 17-18 February 2002 - A Black Cat in a Dark Room, TNITransnational InstituteTransnational Institute is an international think tank for progressive politics. It was established in 1973 in Amsterdam and serves as a network for scholars and activists...
Website, 27 October 2004 - Russia 1917 and the global revolution, Weekly WorkerWeekly WorkerThe Weekly Worker is a newspaper published by the Communist Party of Great Britain . The paper is well known on the left for its polemical articles, close attention to Marxist theory and the politics of other Marxist groups...
, October 26, 2006 - Fuse workers’ movement and Marxism, Weekly WorkerWeekly WorkerThe Weekly Worker is a newspaper published by the Communist Party of Great Britain . The paper is well known on the left for its polemical articles, close attention to Marxist theory and the politics of other Marxist groups...
, November 9, 2006